Vulcan Materials announced second quarter 2013 results, and net sales increased $47 million, or 7 percent, versus the prior year. Gross profit increased $27 million, or 25 percent, from the prior year’s second quarter.
- Aggregates gross profit increased $15 million and gross profit margin increased 130 basis points.
- Aggregates shipments increased 2 percent from the prior year despite significantly more wet weather in the eastern half of the U.S.
- Aggregates pricing increased 4 percent versus the prior year.
- Non-aggregates segment gross profit improved $12 million.
- Volumes in ready-mixed concrete and cement increased 15 percent and 20 percent, respectively, due to continued improvement in private construction.
- Earnings from continuing operations were $30 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, versus a loss of $17 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, in the prior year.
- The company divested certain non-core operating assets for approximately $35 million in proceeds and a gain of $0.10 per diluted share.
- EBITDA was $164 million, an increase of $61 million, or 59 percent, compared to the second quarter of last year. Excluding gains on the sale of assets, as well as restructuring and exchange offer costs, adjusted EBITDA increased 11 percent.
Don James, chairman and chief executive officer, said, “Each of our operating segments reported solid growth in second quarter earnings, contributing to improved gross profit margin and earnings per share. We achieved these results despite challenging, wet weather conditions that sharply reduced June shipments in many markets. Demand for our products continues to benefit from recovery in private construction activity, particularly residential construction, in many of our key markets. We realized strong increases in second quarter aggregates shipments in key states driven mostly by housing demand. Growth in residential construction activity, and its traditional following impact on private nonresidential construction, continues to underpin our expectations for volume and earnings improvement in 2013. Assuming more normal weather patterns, we expect that most of the delays in shipments due to weather in the first half of the year can be recovered in the second half of the year.”
Aggregates segment gross profit was $127 million, a $15 million increase from the prior year. This earnings improvement was due to higher prices in virtually all markets and higher volumes in many markets. Overall, freight-adjusted aggregates prices increased 4 percent versus the prior year. Aggregates shipments in a number of the company’s markets increased sharply versus the prior year. Shipments in Arizona and Florida increased more than 50 percent due mostly to strong private construction demand.
Shipments in Texas and along the central Gulf Coast also benefited from stronger demand, particularly large industrial projects, increasing more than 20 percent versus the prior year. Aggregates shipments in North Carolina and California increased 10 to 20 percent compared to the prior year. Shipments in the Midwest and Virginia were sharply lower due to wet weather and the timing of certain large projects in the prior year.
Gross profit from non-aggregates businesses improved $12 million versus the prior year. Segment earnings for concrete and cement both benefited from sharply higher shipments. Asphalt mix segment earnings improved due to lower liquid asphalt costs. Asphalt unit profitability, as measured by materials margin, increased 20 percent compared to the prior year.