PPC records double digit sales growth in Zim

Published: 19 November 2013

PPC, the largest cement maker in South Africa, said full-year profit climbed 10% after sales increased in its home market and neighbouring Zimbabwe.

Cement sales in Zimbabwe recorded double-digit growth for the period, with retail demand remaining the key driver. Increased competitor activity has, however, constrained cement price increases.

With elections in Zimbabwe concluded, PPC said it expect continued growth in cement demand.

"The market has been dominated by retail clients and we look forward to increased infrastructure investment. We also continue to monitor the cement market in Botswana and anticipate that government spending on infrastructure will gradually begin to improve," said PPC.

Net income rose to R931-million in the 12 months through September from R846-million a year earlier, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement on Tuesday. Earnings per share excluding one-time items climbed 16% to R2.15, beating the R2.04 median estimate of three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. PPC declared a final dividend of R1.18 a share.

"Cement sales in our home territories, particularly Zimbabwe and South Africa, have shown good growth," Ketso Gordhan, chief executive of PPC, said in the statement. PPC is expanding in Africa through acquisitions to offset tougher competition in its domestic market. The company will have three new plants operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Ethiopia by the end of 2015, boosting capacity by more than a third to as much as 11-million metric tons.

"Due to modest growth, the domestic trading environment remains tough and highly competitive," PPC said.

"We are on track to meet our strategic objective of generating 40 per cent of our revenues from the rest of the continent by 2017."

PPC has dropped 6.7%this year, making the stock the worst performer on the seven-member FTSE/JSE Africa Construction & Building Materials Index, which gained 7.4%.

- Businessdaily-Bloomberg

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