Leading building materials producer
"The management board has set the goal of further increasing revenue, operating income and profit for the financial year in 2014 on a comparable basis," HeidelbergCement said in a company statement.
"In 2014, we will benefit from the economic development in the industrial countries, particularly in North America, the United Kingdom, Germany, and northern Europe," said chairman of Heidelberg Cement’s managing board, Dr Bernd Scheifele, who stressed how those countries generated nearly half of the group's revenues. "We are improving our market position in growth markets with the commissioning of modern production facilities. In view of these factors as well as our high operational efficiency, we consider ourselves well-equipped to benefit over-proportionally from the accelerating economic growth,” Scheifele added.
Heidelberg Cement is, said Scheifele, currently experiencing no impact on its business in Russia and Ukraine during the ongoing political tensions between the two nations.
Last year, HeidelbergCement posted what Scheifele described as its "best results since the financial crisis" in 2008. Net profit rocketed up by 79% to €945 million, while earnings per share more than doubled to €3.98. The group’s underlying or operating profit was unchanged at €1.607 billion, while sales slipped by 0.6% to €13.936 billion.
