HeidelbergCement recently announced that group revenue rose by 7% to €14.3 billion from January to September 2019. Excluding consolidation and exchange rate effects, group revenue grew by 4% for the first nine months of 2019. Further, the result from current operations before depreciation and amortization rose by 17% to €2.6 billion for the period.
“HeidelbergCement remains on a solid growth path. We were able to increase revenue and results also in the third quarter of 2019. Price increases and strict cost discipline more than compensated for the slightly weaker demand for our products in the third quarter,” said Dr. Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement. “In Western and Southern Europe as well as in Asia, we were able to significantly increase our margins. Our business in North America developed well, although profitability was effected by positive one-time effects in the same quarter of the previous year. Group area Africa-Eastern Mediterranean Basin bottomed out and has reached its highest result for five quarters.”
Dr. Scheifele continued, “Once again, HeidelbergCement benefitted from its broad regional presence and vertical integration. With the exception of Egypt, all other Group countries achieved positive results. This was also due to our efficiency program that we launched in 2018. We have reached our target of saving €100 million in sales and general administration costs by 2020 more than one year earlier than planned. Now, we intend to reduce costs by additional €30 million by the end of 2020.”
The positive development of the first nine months is expected to continue in the fourth quarter. HeidelbergCement anticipates that the more favorable development of energy costs in comparison with the previous year as well as the solid development in Europe, North America and Asia, especially in Indonesia and Thailand, will contribute positively to the result in 2019.
In view of these expectations, HeidelbergCement confirms its outlook for the whole of 2019. The company anticipates a rise in sales volumes for its cement, aggregates and ready-mixed concrete segments, and continues to assume that in 2019, revenue and the profit for the financial year before non-recurring effects will increase moderately.
