The company’s turnover stood at around RON948.7 million (EUR213 million) last year, a similar level in lei to that recorded in the previous year.
“Although we managed to record the same turnover as in 2011, we faced cost increases and therefore a continued erosion of our profit margin. In addition, we had to close down some operations,” says Daniel Bach, general manager of Holcim Romania.
Holcim Romania had not recorded losses since 2000, when it reported a loss of around 30 billion old lei (around EUR1.5 million), according to annual data from the Finance Ministry (with the exception of 2001, for which no data is available).
The Romanian cement market, valued at around EUR600-EUR700 million per year, is largely divided among three major players: Holcim (Switzerland), Carpatcement (Germany) and Lafarge (France).
Cement companies are considered among the most profitable players in the construction sector and even in the entire economy because they managed to boast profit margins of 20-30% even during the crisis years.
Aside from Holcim, Germany’s Carpatcement Holding also announced its results for 2012 – a consolidated turnover of EUR195 million and a net profit of EUR36 million, i.e. an 18% margin.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)