Slow 4Q Sales but Constant Cash Flow for CEMEX
Contrasted with fourth quarter 2007, CEMEX California revealed sales in the same period 2008. CEMEX California saw its net sales that quarter decrease by 23% to $4.5 billion. It also reported a majority net income loss of $707 million, stemming from impairment expenses, losses in financial instrument, and slumps in operating income. Like all companies, CEMEX had to cope with the economic crisis, which has hit the construction sector especially hard.
From the CEMEX California financial statement released December 2008, the company more or less had $17.91 billion in net debt; $11 billion in current liabilities, $11.12 billion in long-term liabilities, and $17.16 billion in total equity. Then again, CEMEX’s gross profit was comparatively well off.
All in all, the free cash flow for 2008 rose 1% to $2.6 billion. At the same time, CEMEX raked in net sales of $21.7 billion, not bad for a company dodging the recession. The company attributed the sales slump to a number of factors, not the least of which is low volume.
Operating in Mexico and 50 other nations, CEMEX California is more than a century-old maker of cement, ready-mix concrete, and other building materials. The largest supplier of cement in America, CEMEX California produces 96 million metric tons of cement and 77 million cubic meters of ready-mix concrete every year.
