Successful year for Lafarge Holcim
Company reports record operating profit, net income, earnings per share and free cash flow in 2019
LAST year, LafargeHolcim delivered a record performance and reached a new level of financial strength that, according to the company, puts it in a perfect position for further profitable growth for the second half of Strategy 2022 ‘Building for Growth’ and beyond.
At the midway point of Strategy 2022, LafargeHolcim say they have achieved almost all 2022 targets, significantly strengthened their balance sheet and are now well positioned to continue growing profitably with strong market positions in all regions.
For the full year ended 31 December 2019, net sales of CHF26.7 billion grew 3.1% on a like-for-like basis, compared with the previous year, driven by good growth in Europe and North America, good price dynamics across all business segments and higher prices in most markets. Recurring EBITDA reached CHF6.1 billion, up 6.5% like-for-like for the full year, whilst recurring EBITDA margin increased from 21.9% in 2018 to 23% in 2019.
Record net income of CHF2.0 billion represented an increase of 32%, compared with 2018 (CHF1.6 billion), whilst earnings per share were up 29%, accordingly, to CHF3.40 for the full-year 2019, compared with CHF2.63 for 2018.
Meanwhile, net debt was substantially reduced by CHF4.7 billion (–35%) to CHF8.8 billion at year-end 2019, reflecting strong free cash flow generation of CHF3.0 billion (+79%) and strong improvement in cash conversion to reach 49.5%, well above the 40% target defined in Strategy 2022 ‘Building for Growth’.
Commenting on the results, LafargeHolcim’s chief executive officer, Jan Jenisch (pictured), said: ‘2019 was a very successful year for us and we achieved record results in operating profit, net income, EPS and free cash flow. Our sharp decrease in net debt has significantly strengthened our balance sheet. We have achieved all our targets for 2019 and have moved our company to a new level of performance.’
