The hurricane season wreaked havoc across parts of the U.S. this year, impacting the third-quarter performances of several public aggregate producers.
Still, producers largely projected optimism as they published their latest quarterly results. Here’s a rundown of the third-quarter reports that were available as P&Q went to press this month.
Vulcan Materials
Vulcan Materials Co. reported decreases in total revenue, gross profit, aggregate shipments, aggregate revenue and aggregate gross profit in the third quarter.
Amid these third-quarter declines, aggregate gross profit per ton grew 8.5 percent to $8.63 per ton. Aggregate pricing also jumped 10 percent to $21.27 per ton.
Vulcan’s total revenue was down 8.3 percent to $2 billion, and gross profit fell 4.4 percent to $565 million.
Within the company’s aggregate segment, shipments were down 9.8 percent to 57.7 million tons. Revenue was down 3.4 percent to $1.57 billion, and gross profit was down 2 percent to $498.5 million.
Vulcan attributes these declines, in part, to inclement weather throughout the quarter, which included hurricanes and severe storms in August and September. According to Vulcan, last year’s third quarter had fewer severe weather events.
“Results and activities in the third quarter evidence the consistent execution of our two-pronged strategy to generate durable growth,” says Tom Hill, chairman and CEO of Vulcan. “We continue to enhance our core through expansion of our industry-leading aggregates cash gross profit per ton, which increased 10 percent in the third quarter and has grown by double-digits for eight consecutive quarters.
“We also recently announced the acquisition of Wake Stone Corp., a leading pure-play aggregates producer, that will expand our reach in high-growth geographies in the Carolinas,” Hill adds. “Our Vulcan way of selling and Vulcan way of operating disciplines remain fundamental to compounding profitability across our franchise and successfully integrating new operations.”
Martin Marietta
For the third consecutive quarter, Martin Marietta experienced a lower total revenue, gross profit and aggregate shipments.
Total revenue was down 6 percent in the third quarter to $1.8 billion, and gross profit was down 9 percent to $588 million. Third-quarter aggregate shipments declined 3.9 percent to 53.7 million tons, due, in large part, to what Martin Marietta characterizes as “historically wet weather” in the company’s east division. Softening warehouse and residential demand across the company’s footprint also played a role.
Martin Marietta’s aggregate gross profit also decreased slightly in the third quarter, falling 0.68 percent to $438 million. The company says the decrease was primarily driven by lower operating leverage from reduced shipments and weather-driven inefficiencies, which were largely offset by acquisition contributions.
Aggregate pricing and gross profit per ton were both up in the third quarter, according to Martin Marietta. Pricing was up 7.7 percent to $21.52 per ton, and gross profit increased 3 percent to a third-quarter record of $8.16 per ton.
“In the third quarter, our team achieved record quarterly aggregates gross profit per ton, record third-quarter cash flows from operations, record third-quarter revenues and gross profit in our magnesia specialties business, and the best year-to-date safety performance in our company’s history,” says Ward Nye, chairman and CEO of Martin Marietta. “While these achievements demonstrate our continued success managing those factors we can control, well-chronicled weather-related events had major impacts on our third-quarter business results.
“Significant July precipitation, together with Tropical Storm Debby in North Carolina, Hurricane Beryl in Texas and Hurricane Helene across much of our Southeast footprint, all occurred during the quarter,” Nye adds.
Holcim
Holcim achieved record EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) globally in the third quarter, with a solid gain taking place in North America.
Although Holcim’s net sales to external customers in North America were down 7.1 percent in the quarter, the company’s recurring EBIT during that stretch was up 3.7 percent.
Globally, Holcim’s net sales dropped 3 percent in the third quarter. Recurring EBIT was up 4.6 percent.
“Our Q3 results confirm Holcim’s strong earnings profile, with broad-based growth drivers delivering record recurring EBIT and a record margin,” says Miljan Gutovic, CEO of Holcim.
“With our track record of creating superior value across all market conditions and economic cycles, our resilient business model positions us to deliver another year of record results, executing on our strategic priorities,” he adds.
Cemex
Sales at Cemex dropped 4 percent in the third quarter to $1.33 billion, with the company citing adverse weather as a source.
Cemex’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) also declined 4 percent to $258 million. The company’s EBITDA margin remained at 19.3 percent.
Globally, Cemex says sales declined 3 percent to $4.09 billion. The company’s global EBITDA dropped 9 percent.
According to Cemex, its pricing strategy proved valuable in the current lower-volume environment. The company says product prices rose in the low-single digits during the third quarter.
Cemex also made divestments of $1.4 billion in the third quarter, bringing its total 2024 divestiture of noncore assets to $2.2 billion.
“I am pleased with the significant progress we have made this year with our portfolio optimization efforts,” says Fernando González, CEO of Cemex. “With the proceeds, we will continue to execute on our capital allocation framework where we intend to prioritize growth investments with particular focus on the U.S., while continuing to deleverage and build on our recently instituted progressive shareholder return program.”
