LafargeHolcim posted solid results in North America as a result of both the continuing recovery in the United States as well as successful price management and cost optimization, according to the company.
Cement and aggregate volumes increased as a whole for the company across the U.S. and in Eastern States of Canada, offset partially by reduced demand in some regions (such as Western Canada and Texas) where oil and commodity investments were under pressure, and as a result of divestments in some states. Large projects in this region included the St. Croix Crossing in Minnesota, and the MGM Casino in Washington, D.C.
Financial performance increased markedly due mainly to the United States as well as an overachievement on synergy realization, with the U.S. posting a double-digit increase in operating EBITDA, mainly due to active cost, price and margin management.
Overall, like-for-like net sales grew for Q4 (up 3.1 percent) and the FY (5.4 percent) versus 2014 while operating EBITDA adjusted for merger, restructuring and other one-offs rose 12 percent for the full year.
Eric Olsen, CEO of LafargeHolcim, said: “In a challenging environment in selected markets, we have exceeded all our 2015 commitments in terms of capex, synergies, and net debt reduction. Our focus on cash flow delivered solid results in Q4. We have also made significant progress on our divestment plan, while accelerating the pace of integration across the group and cost management actions.
“Many of the key elements of the merger are now behind us. Our organization is in place; synergies will continue to gain momentum in 2016 with notably more than CHF 450 million of incremental EBITDA synergies expected for this year; and we have taken decisive actions to further adjust and streamline our costs, notably in the most difficult markets.
“Overall, we see demand in our markets growing 2-4 percent during 2016. Emerging markets will continue to grow overall, supported by their strong long-term fundamentals and despite the challenging evolution in some of these markets. Given our footprint, we are well placed to benefit from the dynamic conditions in many of our key markets.”