Boston, MA 10/25/2013 (wallstreetpr) – Cemex SAB de CV (ADR) (NYSE:CX) declared its quarterly results. The company has been facing some pressure on its margins due to the global economic slowdown. It was also hit by higher taxes. Sales picked up, particularly in the U.S. The company posted a loss of $155 million much above the loss of $22 million expected by analysts. The loss in the same quarter last year was $203 million. Income tax payments also increased by 12% over the same period last year, the company had expected the payments to be at the same level as last year. Net sales were also below analysts’ expectation, they had expected sales of $4.05 billion, and the company could report only $4.02 billion. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased from $735 million to $747 million.
Sales were higher in the U.S. by 8% following the recovery in the residential property market. Europe also saw an increase in sales by 6%. The growth in this market was welcome as it comes after declines in the last quarters. Sales in Asia, and Latin America also rose. Mexico continued to disappoint as sales were hit by slower spending by the government on infrastructure. The drop was in double-digits. The company expects the situation to improve in the coming months as Mexican government has again increased the pace of infrastructure projects. Higher cement prices in most of the regions partly offset the decline in sales in Mexico.
The company is actively focused on using alternate energy sources to reduce its fuels costs. The company could report an increase in alternative fuel substitution of 28% year-to-date against 26% for the same period last year.
The company continues to struggle from heavy debt loads, a legacy of costly acquisitions. It has entered into three transactions with Holcim Ltd. with a view to consolidate the assets and get a better return on capital.
As expected, the company’s ADRs lost 3.69% on the markets closing at $10.97 per ADR.
