On the aggregate market, Holcim sales in Romania almost doubled, as prices on the market dropped 19.6%, the company said in a report Wednesday.
“Business development in Eastern Europe picked up in some markets, with Romania increasing volumes in all three segments and Bulgaria expanding aggregates and ready-mix volumes significantly. Romania posted particularly higher volumes mainly thanks to lively building activity in the Bucharest area,” Holcim said in the report.
At global level, Holcim was again confronted with a mixed global economic environment that was influenced by moderate growth levels as well as political and economic uncertainty.
In 2015, Holcim anticipates a growth in cement sales volume, except for Europe and Africa and Middle East region.
Holcim’s net profit rose 36.4% in the first six months, to EUR542 million while sales rose 11.9%, to EUR8.18 billion.
In July 2015, Holcim and Lafarge have successfully completed their merger and created LafargeHolcim, the world’s leading building materials company, with annual sales of approximately EUR40 billion.
The two companies have reported their financial results separately for the last time.
The two companies decided to sell the assets of one company in Romania, Germany and Hungary. In Romania, the assets up for sale are those of Lafarge.
Early February 2015, CRH reached an agreement with Holcim and Lafarge to acquire the bulk of assets the two companies were selling, including those in Romania, for EUR6.5 billion. Lafarge’s two cement factories in Romania, in Medgidia and Hoghiz, and its grinding station in Targu Jiu, will be taken over by Irish manufacturer CRH.
Holcim Romania had 792 employees at the end of last year and a local production capacity of 6.1 million tons of cement.