LafargeHolcim has reported that net sales in the second quarter slid from the same period a year ago – but were up 3.6% on a like-for-like basis.
The Franco-Swiss company reported adjusted operating profit of 1.735bn Swiss francs ($1.82bn) for the three months ended June 30.
The group lowered its forecast for growth in global cement markets this year. In May it said it expected markets to grow by 2% to 4% but has revised this down to between 1% to 3%. The group pointed to weaknesses in Southeast Asian countries and in Nigeria.
Beat Hess, chairman and interim chief executive, said: “LafargeHolcim delivered positive earnings growth for the fifth consecutive quarter supported by favorable pricing, cost discipline and synergies."
"The unique strengths of our balanced portfolio are once again evident in our results with key countries such as the US, India, Nigeria and, notably this quarter, Mexico, making significant contributions to earnings, more than offsetting headwinds in some of our markets. On that basis, and with our performance to date, we remain confident that we will achieve our full year guidance and our 2018 targets."
"In addition, our continued efforts to transform our commercial capability and improve our cost base put us in a strong position to fully capitalize on market growth."
“In 2017, we will deliver sustainable, profitable growth through continued strong focus on synergies, structural cost savings, commercial differentiation of our products and building solutions and Capex discipline,” said Hess. “This will be particularly supported by the contribution of several markets such as the US, India, Nigeria and some countries in Europe. Based on the first half market development, we now forecast demand in our markets to increase by between 1 to 3%.
In the UK LafargeHolcim said that “uncertainty is now growing in the market after 12 months of better than expected demand following the EU referendum”.
In April, Eric Olsen resigned as chief executive and he was replaced by Jan Jenisch, chief executive of Swiss chemicals company Sika. LafargeHolcim said that Jenisch would start his new job earlier than expected, on September 1.
