Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Sigmaroc PLC on Thursday said that "excellent final quarter trading" would push its annual earnings and earnings per share ahead of previous expectations.
The Dublin-based building materials company expects around GBP580 million in revenue for the full year, up 8% from GBP538 million in 2022, but behind consensus forecasts of GBP596.9 million.
"Excellent final quarter trading", boosted by high demand for steel, pushed underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to over GBP116 million. This surpasses current consensus expectations for Ebitda of GBP110.2 million and puts Sigmaroc ahead of the GBP101.7 million earned a year prior.
The construction markets, which comprise 57% of Sigmaroc revenue, saw "robust demand" in both Europe and the UK, the company said. The industrial minerals division, representing the remaining 47% of Sigmaroc's trade, showed "continued resilience" towards the end of the year.
Earnings per share are expected to be "greater than" the 8p seen in 2022, despite a "significant increase in finance costs", although the company did not specify the rate of improvement.
In November, Sigmaroc reached a conditional agreement to purchase the limestone operations of CRH PLC, a Dublin-based building materials company, for a total consideration of about USD1.1 billion. The first phase of the transaction was completed in early January, involving CRH's German, Czech, and Irish operations. This brought the group 1 billion tonnes of limestone reserves, over 850 employees, and annualised revenues of over EUR350 million.
Sigmaroc expects to acquire the remaining limestone targets, CRH's UK and Polish operations, later in 2024. The company has call options on these targets and, should it choose to exercise them, will fork out an additional EUR255 million for both.
Looking ahead, Sigmaroc has maintained its outlook for the full year ended December 31 and intends to publish its annual results by the end of March 2024.
Chief Executive Officer Max Vermorken said: "We have had an encouraging start to 2024, and we are confident the enlarged group, with a strategic focus on lime and limestone, can deliver strongly in the coming years to the benefit of all our stakeholders. Lime is an essential product for life, used in multiple areas of the economy, from construction to industry. It is essential for the green transition, being used in a number of processes including flue gas cleaning, slaking rivers and lakes, and the manufacture of lithium batteries."
Shares in Sigmaroc were down 0.3% at 62.04 pence each in London on Thursday afternoon.
By Hugh Cameron, Alliance News reporter
Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
