October 28, 2021

Total revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 grew by 18% amounting to $17.80 billion, up from $15.10 billion reported a year ago.  For the quarter, revenues amounted to $5.49 billion (2020: $5.77 billion).

Cost of Sales closed the period under review at $10.83 billion (2020: $8.14 billion). As such, gross profit totalled $6.968 billion versus $6.966 billion booked in the same period last year.

Operating expenses recorded a 3% increase closing the nine months at $1.85 billion compared to $1.79 billion reported in the previous comparable period. Consequently, operating profit before income or loss amounted to $5.12 billion for the year, a 1% decrease compared to 2020’s $5.18 billion.

Other losses amounted to $277.74 million (2020: $248.32 million).

As such, operating profit for the period fell 2% to $4.84 billion from $4.93 billion in 2020. While for the quarter, operating profit closed at $410.77 million (2020: $2.20 billion). Management highlighted that, “this reduction in the revenue was a result of the lower sales due to the heavy rainfall and harsh weather conditions experienced during the quarter, in conjunction with the lower production of cement and clinker due to the planned equipment maintenance exercise carried out in the quarter. During the quarter, the company executed the annual general maintenance of the plant.”

Financial Income amounted to $8.21 million for the period compared to $7.93 million for the corresponding period in 2020. Finance Costs for the nine months closed at $411.91 million compared to $503.33 million incurred for the corresponding period of 2020.

Notably, loss on foreign exchange amounted to $223.66 million (2020: $923.45 million). For the quarter, gain on foreign exchange closed at $34.82 million compared to a loss of $265.55 million in 2020.

Consequently, Profit before Taxation for the period amounted to $4.21 billion, 20% more when compared with a profit of $3.51 billion recorded last year. CCC stated that, “the company continues with an aggressive USD debt repayment policy, which has allowed it to reduce the financial expenses by $61 million and the company’s foreign exchange risk compared with the corresponding quarter in 2020.” Taxation for the period decreased from $1.27 bllion reported for the nine months of 2020 to $1.08 billion in 2021.

As such, Net profit for the period closed at $3.13 billion relative to net profit of $2.23 billion booked for the corresponding period in 2020, an increase of 40% year over year. Net profit for the quarter however amounted to $43.71 million, relative to $1.23 billion reported in 2020.

Consequently, earnings per share (EPS) amounted to $3.68 (2020: $2.62) while earnings per share for the quarter amounted to $0.05 (2020: $1.44). The twelve months trailing EPS is $4.81. The number of shares used in this calculation was 851,136,591 shares. CCC stock price closed the trading period on October 27, 2021 at a price of $115.46 with a corresponding P/E of 23.98 times.

Management also noted that, “We are expecting that domestic demand for our premium product will remain high and are putting in the necessary steps to meet these requirements. To this end, in the latter part of 2022, we will begin the $4.6 billion upgrade of our plant, which will expand cement production by 30 per cent when completed. This expansion will allow us to move from producing 1.0 million tonnes to close to 1.4 million metric tonnes a year to properly support the strong local demand, which is expected to be driven by both government-initiated infrastructure projects and private development initiatives. It will also put us in a better position to export to markets in the region, providing them with our high-quality products.”

Balance sheet at a Glance:

Total Assets stood at $26.71 billion as at September 30, 2021 (2020: $26.38 billion). This slight decrease in total assets was largely due to the $473.11 million decrease in ‘Property, Plant and Equipment’ which closed at $22.52 billion (2020: $23 billion) and the $183.41 million decrease in ‘Cash and Cash Equivalents’ to $190.61 million (2020: $374.02 million). This was offset by a $799.46 million increase in ‘Inventories’ to $3.15 billion (2020: $2.35 billion).

Shareholder’s equity totaled $14.77 billion compared to the $10.58 billion quoted as at September 30, 2020. This resulted in a book value of $17.35 (2020: $12.43).