HeidelbergCement says that during the second quarter of 2015 s sales volumes increased in all business lines and group revenue wasup by 10% to €3.6 billion (previous year: €3.3 billion; like-for-like +0.4%).
The company’s Q2 results also show that operating income before depreciation (OIBD) improved by 15% to €752 million (previous year: €655 million; like-for-like* +6%); the OIBD margin improved to 20.7%, and a reduction in net debt compared with the previous year by €1.6 billion to €6.3 billion
The company says the continued recovery of the markets in North America and the United Kingdom has had a favourable impact on
The group’s cement and clinker sales volumes rose by 0.9% to 21.9 million tonnes (previous year: 21.7 million tonnes) in the second quarter.
The strongest growth was achieved in the Africa-Mediterranean Basin Group area, followed by North America and Western and Northern Europe. Deliveries of aggregates increased by 4.4% (adjusted for consolidation effects 4.2%) to 67.1 million tonnes (previous year: 64.3 million tonnes), while deliveries of ready-mixed concrete rose marginally by 0.2% to 9.6 million m³ (previous year: 9.5 million m³) and of asphalt by 7.2% to 2.4 million tonnes (previous year: 2.3 million tonnes).
In the first half of the year, cement and clinker sales volumes increased slightly by 0.1% to 38.8 million tonnes (previous year: 38.7 million tonnes). Deliveries of aggregates rose by 4.4% to 113.4 million tonnes (previous year: 108.6 million tonnes) and ready-mixed concrete by 1% to 17.4 million m³ (previous year: 17.2 million m³). Asphalt sales volumes grew by 5.4% to 4 million tonnes (previous year: 3.8 million tonnes).
Revenue and operating income significantly increased
“The positive trend in terms of revenue and operating income continued in the second quarter,” says Dr. Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board.
“The sustained recovery in our mature markets, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States, has made a significant contribution. In operational terms, we were able to further increase the group margin thanks to our margin improvement programmes and price increases in some of the core markets. Furthermore, we have benefited from the weak euro and low fuel costs.”
