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PPC - Pretoria Portland Cement Company - Trading update - AGM 25 January 2010

Release Date: 25/01/2010 12:15
Code(s): PPC
Wrap Text

PPC - Pretoria Portland Cement Company - Trading update - AGM 25 January 2010 Pretoria Portland Cement Company Limited (Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa) (Company registration number: 1892/000667/06) JSE Code: PPC ISIN: ZAE000125886 ("PPC" or "the company") Trading update - AGM 25 January 2010 Regional cement sales during October 2009 were 15% down on the previous year. While no further industry statistics have been available since PPC ceased submitting statistics at the request of the Competition Commission, we can report that our sales for the remainder of our first financial quarter continued lower than the previous year. Demand in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng provinces continued to disappoint while sales in the Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces continued to show growth due to a combination of infrastructure projects and retail demand in these provinces. Exports from our South African factories have continued to grow and are significantly above the corresponding period last year. Our export focus has primarily been to Mozambique and Angola. Cement sales in Zimbabwe continued to perform well to the end of December 2009 and indications from our January figures remain positive. Demand for lime has improved significantly on the comparable quarter in the previous year following better than expected demand from major steel producers. Aggregate volumes for the first financial quarter have shown growth due to the favourable geographic locations of our quarries and their specific product offerings. Despite disappointing cement demand in South Africa`s metropolitan areas, the dedicated efforts of the PPC team to streamline production and logistics and the positive results in the company`s other sectors have all contributed to a pleasing first quarter. With regard to major projects, the mill at Hercules (Ntshafatso Project) continues to progress with commissioning still expected during the next two months. Work on achieving a positive Record of Decision regarding the Environmental Impact Assessment for the proposed Se Kika Project (new Riebeeck plant) is continuing. PPC continues to cooperate with the Competition Commission in its investigation into the cement industry. A number of mixed signals exist as to the outlook for the South African economy in 2010, including the extent of electricity tariff increases and the impact of the World Cup, making the forecasting of cement demand extremely difficult. Current indications are that demand is more than likely to be less than the previous year. PPC will continue to utilise the most efficient production lines and optimise delivery logistics while remaining focussed on input cost management. Investors are reminded that the IFRS 2 charges associated with the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment transaction that were accounted for last year, will not re-occur during this financial year. BL Sibiya Chairman Johannesburg 25 January 2010 Sponsor Merrill Lynch South Africa (Pty) Limited Date: 25/01/2010 12:15:01 Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited (`JSE`). The JSE does not, whether expressly, tacitly or implicitly, represent, warrant or in any way guarantee the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information published on SENS. The JSE, their officers, employees and agents accept no liability for (or in respect of) any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage of any kind or nature, howsoever arising, from the use of SENS or the use of, or reliance on, information disseminated through SENS.

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