Africa’s biggest cement maker PPC on Tuesday posted a 16% rise in full-year headline earnings per share and forecast a healthy performance this fiscal year, as demand for building materials booms.
PPC, whose full name is Pretoria Portland Cement, reported headline EPS — the key profit measure for South African firms which excludes non-trading, capital and certain extraordinary items — of 263 cents and a 19% rise in revenue to R5,6-billion for the year to end-September.
”This is another good set of results on the back of continued growth in cement volumes, with all of our production units running at very high utilisation levels to meet the high cement demand,” chief executive John Gomersall said.
”We remain focused on maximising our efficiencies, though this has not been without its challenges due to increased energy and transport costs, and a higher level of maintenance cost occasioned by these high utilisation levels.”
Gomersall said PPC was set to commission new capacity early next year, which should lift output during the second half and reduce its reliance on imports to meet demand for cement.
This, he said, should produce ”another improved performance”, despite a possible slowdown in residential construction due to rising interest rates.
Demand for property has been such in Africa’s biggest economy over the past several years that companies have been forced to import products, particularly for infrastructure and construction heavily, straining the country’s trade balance.
South African firms have often complained that strength in the volatile rand makes imports expensive. – Reuters