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PPC
PPC
PPC - Pretoria Portland Cement Company - Trading update - AGM 25 January 2010
Pretoria Portland Cement Company Limited
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Company registration number: 1892/000667/06)
JSE Code: PPC
ISIN: ZAE000125886
("PPC" or "the company")
Trading update - AGM 25 January 2010
Regional cement sales during October 2009 were 15% down on the previous year.
While no further industry statistics have been available since PPC ceased
submitting statistics at the request of the Competition Commission, we can
report that our sales for the remainder of our first financial quarter continued
lower than the previous year. Demand in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and
Gauteng provinces continued to disappoint while sales in the Mpumalanga and
Limpopo provinces continued to show growth due to a combination of
infrastructure projects and retail demand in these provinces.
Exports from our South African factories have continued to grow and are
significantly above the corresponding period last year. Our export focus has
primarily been to Mozambique and Angola. Cement sales in Zimbabwe continued to
perform well to the end of December 2009 and indications from our January
figures remain positive.
Demand for lime has improved significantly on the comparable quarter in the
previous year following better than expected demand from major steel producers.
Aggregate volumes for the first financial quarter have shown growth due to the
favourable geographic locations of our quarries and their specific product
offerings.
Despite disappointing cement demand in South Africa`s metropolitan areas, the
dedicated efforts of the PPC team to streamline production and logistics and the
positive results in the company`s other sectors have all contributed to a
pleasing first quarter.
With regard to major projects, the mill at Hercules (Ntshafatso Project)
continues to progress with commissioning still expected during the next two
months. Work on achieving a positive Record of Decision regarding the
Environmental Impact Assessment for the proposed Se Kika Project (new Riebeeck
plant) is continuing.
PPC continues to cooperate with the Competition Commission in its investigation
into the cement industry.
A number of mixed signals exist as to the outlook for the South African economy
in 2010, including the extent of electricity tariff increases and the impact of
the World Cup, making the forecasting of cement demand extremely difficult.
Current indications are that demand is more than likely to be less than the
previous year. PPC will continue to utilise the most efficient production lines
and optimise delivery logistics while remaining focussed on input cost
management. Investors are reminded that the IFRS 2 charges associated with the
Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment transaction that were accounted for last
year, will not re-occur during this financial year.
BL Sibiya
Chairman
Johannesburg
25 January 2010
Sponsor
Merrill Lynch South Africa (Pty) Limited
Date: 25/01/2010 12:15:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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