Eagle Materials reported financial results for fiscal year 2023 and the fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31, 2023. For fiscal year 2023, the company is reporting record revenue of $2.1 billion, up 15% and net earnings of $461.5 million, up 23%. For the fourth quarter, the company is reporting record revenue of $470.1 million, up 14%.
Fiscal 2023 revenue in the Heavy Materials sector, which includes Cement, Concrete and Aggregates, as well as Joint Venture and intersegment Cement revenue, was $1.3 billion, an 11% increase. Heavy Materials annual operating earnings increased 7% to $297.0 million, primarily because of higher Cement net sales prices.
Fiscal 2023 Cement revenue, including Joint Venture and intersegment revenue, was up 7% to $1.1 billion, and Cement operating earnings increased 7% to $278.8 million. The annual revenue and earnings increases reflect higher net sales prices, the effect of which was partially offset by a decrease in the volume of cement sold.
The average annual net Cement sales price for the year increased 13% to $134.36 per ton. Cement sales volume for the year was down 5% to 7.1 million tons.
Fourth quarter Cement revenue, including Joint Venture and intersegment revenue, was up 14% to $213.8 million. Operating earnings increased 59% to $45.3 million, reflecting higher net sales prices, partially offset by higher operating costs, namely energy. The average net Cement sales price for the quarter increased 16% to $147.50 per ton. Cement sales volume for the quarter was down 3% to 1.3 million tons.
Fiscal 2023 revenue from Concrete and Aggregates increased 35% to $239.5 million, reflecting higher sales prices and Concrete volume as well as the contribution of approximately $44.5 million from the acquired business in northern Colorado. Concrete and Aggregates reported fiscal 2023 operating earnings of $18.3 million, down 1%, reflecting higher operating costs primarily related to diesel fuel.
Fourth quarter Concrete and Aggregates revenue was $53.1 million, an increase of 43%, due to higher pricing and Concrete sales volume as well as the contribution of approximately $10 million from the acquired business in northern Colorado. Fourth quarter operating earnings were $2.6 million, a 74% increase, reflecting higher pricing and sales volume.
Commenting on the annual results, Michael Haack, president and CEO, said, “We are pleased to announce another exceptional quarter and year at Eagle. We achieved record financial results and made strong progress on all strategic priorities. During the fiscal year, we expanded gross margins by 190 bps to 29.8%, reported record earnings per share of $12.46, generated operating cash flow of $542 million, and repurchased 3.1 million shares of our common stock for $388 million. We also increased production of our eco-friendly Portland Limestone Cement product and integrated several acquisitions which should improve our already enviable low-cost producer position. At the end of the fiscal year, debt was $1.1 billion, and our net leverage ratio (net debt to Adjusted EBITDA) was 1.4x, giving us substantial financial flexibility for disciplined capital allocation.
“Employee health, safety and environmental stewardship remain core objectives, and we demonstrated meaningful progress in all areas over the year,” Haack continued. “We released our updated Environmental and Social Disclosure report, which is available on our website. In fiscal 2023, our safety performance continued to outpace the industry average, and we achieved the lowest recordable injury rate in the company’s history. We also made significant progress in reducing our carbon footprint with the increased production and sale of our Portland Limestone Cement product, which has a lower carbon intensity than standard cement with similar performance attributes.”
Haack concluded, “Looking ahead, we anticipate continued attractive fundamentals in our markets, despite headwinds relating to higher interest rates and affordability constraints in single-family residential construction. Among the favorable demand factors we expect will affect our results in future periods are projected funding increases for infrastructure projects and healthy demand for heavy industrial projects and multi-family residential construction. We remain well-positioned to capitalize on these conditions given our geographical footprint across the US heartland and fast-growing Sunbelt and our financial strength and flexibility.”
