The increase in consolidated net sales was, says Cemex, due to higher prices of the firm’s products, in local currency terms, in most of its operations, as well as higher sales volumes in Mexico, the United States, and Europe.
Fernando A. Gonzalez, Cemex’s chief executive officer, said: “Our solid second quarter and first half 2016 results demonstrate the resilience of our portfolio, which is largely comprised of high-growth markets that are experiencing attractive supply-demand conditions.
“We saw higher consolidated cement and aggregates volumes during the quarter as well as continued favourable results from our value-before-volume strategy, which led to a growth in sales of 6% on a like-to-like basis. Operating EBITDA increased by 16% also on a like-to-like basis with a margin expansion of 1.3 percentage points. Free cash flow after maintenance capex reached US$478 million during the quarter, an increase of US$376 million from last year’s level.
“Our pro-forma debt, reflecting our cash reserve and the proceeds from our Philippines transaction, among other items, is close to US$1.3 billion lower than that at the end of 2015. This is an additional step in our path to reach an investment-grade capital structure as soon as possible.”
