Siam City Cement improved operating profit margin and net profit in Q4 of 2009 Y-O-Y
Siam City Cement Public Company Limited announced to the Stock Exchange of Thailand today that it achieved an operating profit margin in Q4 of 2009 of 17.2 percent, up from 16.1 percent recorded during the same period of 2008. Consolidated net profit attributable to equity holders for the quarter was 704 million baht, or earnings per share of 3.06 baht, compared to 676 million baht, or earnings per share of 2.94 baht, in the same period of 2008.
In the 4th quarter of 2009, domestic cement consumption grew by 10 percent, compared to the same period of the previous year. This was due manly to the low base of the 4th quarter of 2008 and to a rebound of the construction sector as a result of public spending and improving consumers and investors’ confidence. Consequently, Thailand ’s full-year 2009 cement consumption declined by 2 percent from a year earlier, a much lower level than the 10 percent drop anticipated at the beginning of the year.
Consolidated net sales for Q4 of 2009 were 5,008 million baht, 4.4 percent lower than the 5,237 million baht net sales posted during the same period in 2008. Consolidated net sales for the full-year 2009 were 19,971 million baht and 6.3 percent lower than the 21,305 million baht net sales recorded the previous year.
Thanks to the Company’s determination to reduce fixed cost and to increase production efficiency, full-year operating profit margin reached 19.7 percent, exceeding slightly the 19.6 percent of the same period in 2008. Full-year consolidated net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent was 2,946 million baht with earnings per share of 12.81 baht, compared to 3,173 million baht or earnings per share of 13.79 baht in year 2008.
Furthermore, significant net working capital reduction contributed to a 33.2 percent rise in operating cash flow up to 4,128 million baht for the year ended 31 December 2009, compared to 3,099 million baht in the previous year.
The SCCC Board of Directors at its meeting on February 11th decided to propose the payment of a full-year dividend of 11.00 baht per share, based on the earnings of 12.81 baht per share, representing a payout ratio of 86 percent for financial year 2009, pending the approval at the Annual General Meeting. The interim dividend of 6.00 baht per share was paid in August 2009 and the final dividend of 5.00 baht per share is expected be paid within May 2010.
In terms of outlook, SCCC projects domestic cement consumption to improve by 3 to 5 percent from 2009, driven by the Government’s second stimulus package. The Company expects also to benefit from various cost improvement programs, including the continuing development of the Alternative Fuels and Raw Materials (AFR) project, and the Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) project which is due to generate 25 mW of electricity per year starting in July 2010.
Launching its new initiative “Growing Green Together”, SCCC will intensify its efforts to offer sustainable concrete solutions for its customers – a development that will benefit the communities, business partners, employees and the society as a whole, while staying fully committed to its social responsibility efforts.