Building materials supplier Holcim beats profit forecast
Adds share price, analyst
By John Revill
ZURICH, Oct 25 (Reuters) -Holcim HOLN.S beat third-quarter operating profit expectations, the construction materials maker said on Friday, as higher profitability helped offset lower sales.
The company, which is planning to spin off its North American business next year, posted recurring operating profit of 1.67 billion Swiss francs ($1.93 billion) for the three months to the end of September.
The figure was slightly ahead of analyst forecasts for 1.65 billion francs in a company supplied consensus.
The profit was helped by the company increasing its profit margin to 23.5% from 21.8% a year earlier, as Holcim sold more of its more profitable low carbon cement, roofing and other building products.
This compensated for lower revenues, which fell 3% to 7.12 billion francs, missing forecasts for 7.19 billion francs.
"Our Q3 results confirm Holcim's strong earnings profile, with broad-based growth drivers delivering record recurring EBIT and a record margin," said Chief Executive Miljan Gutovic.
Profitability was also supported by acquisitions made by Holcim, with the company buying six more companies during the quarter to take its total to 17 for the year.
Holcim confirmed its full-year guidance to increase its sales in the low single-digit percentage range in local currencies, and increase its recurring operating profit at a higher rate.
The company's shares were indicated 0.1% lower in premarket activity on the Zurich stock exchange.
"Even though sales were a touch below consensus forecast on lower volumes in North America and Europe, recurring EBIT development was again very robust," said Bank Vontobel analyst Mark Diethelm.
The confirmed guidance was also seen a positive in challenging markets, he added.
Holcim said its intended U.S. listing of its North American business was still on track to be completed in the first half of 2025.
The North American market, Holcim's second biggest after Europe, was showing "strong market fundamentals", the company said, adding it is currently working on 150 infrastructure projects in the region.
($1 = 0.8656 Swiss francs)
Reporting by John Revill, Editing by Rachel More
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Penafian: Entiti XM Group menyediakan perkhidmatan pelaksanaan sahaja dan akses ke Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian, yang membolehkan sesorang melihat dan/atau menggunakan kandungan yang ada di dalam atau melalui laman web, tidak bertujuan untuk mengubah atau memperluas, juga tidak mengubah atau mengembangkannya. Akses dan penggunaan tersebut tertakluk kepada: (i) Terma dan Syarat; (ii) Amaran Risiko; dan Penafian Penuh. Oleh itu, kandungan sedemikian disediakan tidak lebih dari sekadar maklumat umum. Terutamanya, perlu diketahui bahawa kandungan Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian bukan permintaan, atau tawaran untuk melakukan transaksi dalam pasaran kewangan. Berdagang dalam mana-mana pasaran kewangan melibatkan tahap risiko yang besar terhadap modal anda.
Semua bahan yang diterbitkan di Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian kami bertujuan hanya untuk tujuan pendidikan/maklumat dan tidak mengandungi – dan tidak boleh dianggap mengandungi nasihat kewangan, cukai pelaburan atau dagangan dan cadangan, atau rekod harga dagangan kami, atau tawaran, atau permintaan untuk suatu transaksi dalam sebarang instrumen kewangan atau promosi kewangan yang tidak diminta kepada anda.
Sebarang kandungan pihak ketiga serta kandungan yang disediakan oleh XM, seperti pendapat, berita, penyelidikan, analisis, harga, maklumat lain atau pautan ke laman web pihak ketiga yang terdapat dalam laman web ini disediakan berdasarkan "seadanya" sebagai ulasan pasaran umum dan bukanlah nasihat pelaburan. Sesuai dengan apa-apa kandungan yang ditafsir sebagai penyelidikan pelaburan, anda mestilah ambil perhatian dan menerima bahawa kandungan tersebut tidak bertujuan dan tidak sediakan berdasarkan keperluan undang-undang yang direka untuk mempromosikan penyelidikan pelaburan bebas dan oleh itu, ia dianggap sebagai komunikasi pemasaran di bawah peraturan dan undang-undang yang berkaitan. SIla pastikan bahawa anda telah membaca dan memahami Notifikasi mengenai Penyelidikan Pelaburan Bukan Bebas dan Amaran Risiko mengenai maklumat di atas yang boleh diakses di sini.
