HeidelbergCement Q4 sales rise 9.6 percent on Asia revenue
HeidelbergCement Q4 sales rise 9.6 percent on Asia revenue
Bloomberg, Frankfurt
HeidelbergCement AG, Germany's largest cement maker, said fourth-
quarter sales gained 9.6 percent after it expanded in foreign
markets from Eastern Europe to Asia. The company expects revenue
to rise this year.
Sales climbed to 1.71 billion euro (US$2.25 billion) from 1.56
billion euro a year earlier. Revenue beat the 1.64 billion-euro
median analyst estimate. The Heidelberg-based company will report
final figures including net income on March 23.
HeidelbergCement expects a "moderate" gain in 2005 sales,
helped by higher demand in Asia, Eastern Europe and the U.S.
Chief Executive Bernd Scheifele, 46, took over the helm on Feb. 1
and two days later said the company will report a loss for 2004
because of 700 million euro in costs.
HeidelbergCement plans to sell new shares to raise 270 million
euro, it said on Monday.
"HeidelbergCement is on a good course following the good
earnings outlook," said Ralph Herre, a Stuttgart-based analyst at
Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg, who rates the stock "buy."
Cement and clinker sales in 2004 rose to 65.2 million tons
from 51.1 million tons a year earlier, boosted by an increase in
North America as well as Africa, Asia and Turkey. Sales in the
region comprising Africa, Asia and Turkey tripled last year.
"The growth impetus is expected from the U.S., Asia and middle
and Eastern Europe," the company said in the release. "Growth
remains limited in the euro zone and weak in Germany."
Building projects in Asia have lured HeidelbergCement and
other European cement makers. The German company has bought
control of PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa in Indonesia.
Holcim Ltd., the world-largest cement company, has agreed to
invest $800 million to win control of India's Associated Cement
Cos.
HeidelbergCement will report a net loss of as much as 400
million euro for last year after asset writedowns and a program
to cut costs at the Belgian-Dutch unit.
HeidelbergCement plans to offer investors 1 new share for
every 13 held for 35 euro apiece.
Shares of HeidelbergCement, which traces its origins to 1873,
when Johann Philipp Schifferdecker converted a mill on the banks
of the Neckar river at Heidelberg into a cement factory, have
gained 44 percent in the past six months, boosting the company's
market value to about 5 billion euro.
The 67-member Bloomberg European Industrials Index has risen
17 percent in that time.
Fourth-quarter revenue was calculated by subtracting nine-
month sales from the full-year figure.