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Trading Update for the First Quarter October 2012 to December 2012
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 for the quarter October 2012 to December 2012
During the first quarter of PPC’s 2013 financial year, we took another significant step in our
rest of Africa strategy with the announcement in December 2012 of the 51% acquisition of
Cimerwa Limited of Rwanda for US$69.4 million. The receipt of our Zimbabwean
indigenisation certificate in November 2012 is also an important step for this strategy. We
are currently pursuing additional opportunities and expect to make further announcements
during the course of 2013.
The financial quarter was also characterised by growth in PPC’s South African, Botswana
and Zimbabwean cement volumes. In South Africa this trend was experienced across all
provinces with the exception of the Eastern Cape where heavy rains and imports impacted
demand.
The effect of this positive demand has been partly offset by some product sourcing
challenges experienced over the period. These were primarily due to lower than planned
production output at our Dwaalboom factory. This technical issue has been resolved and
normal production has been restored.
While the selling environment remains challenging, some increases in prices were achieved
in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Volumes in the lime division declined due to reduced off-take from the local steel industry
while aggregates volumes remained under pressure due to weak demand.
In South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe there remains limited visibility on major
infrastructure projects, however our outlook for cement demand in these three territories
gives us reason to remain cautiously optimistic.
Excluding the IFRS 2 charges recorded on the Zimbabwe indigenisation programme and the
implementation of the company’s second BEE transaction, earnings for the first half of 2013
are anticipated to reflect a year-on-year improvement.
Any forecast financial information on which this Trading Update is based has not been
reviewed and reported on by the Company’s auditors.
BL Sibiya
Chairman of the board
28 January 2013
Sponsor:
Merrill Lynch SA (Pty) limited
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