CONCH CEMENT's net profit in Q4 2024 increased by 33.4% quarter-on-quarter, proposing a dividend of 0.71 yuan per share | Financial Report Insights
In the fourth quarter, CONCH CEMENT's operating revenue was 22.879 billion yuan, with a total revenue of 91.03 billion yuan for the entire year of 2024, a year-on-year decrease of 35.51%. In the fourth quarter of last year, the company actively promoted business diversification, and its aggregate business performed well, with revenue growth of 21.4% to 4.691 billion yuan
Against the backdrop of a continued downturn in the real estate market, Conch Cement's revenue and profit both declined last year. In response to the downward demand, the company actively promoted business diversification.
On Monday, Conch Cement announced its performance report for the fourth quarter and the entire year of 2024:
Revenue: Fourth quarter revenue was 22.879 billion yuan, achieving good performance against the overall decline in cement demand; 2024 revenue was 91.03 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 35.51%;
Net Profit: The fourth quarter net profit was 2.498 billion yuan, a quarter-on-quarter increase of 33.4%; the annual net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 7.696 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 26.19%;
Gross Margin: Remained relatively stable: the overall gross margin for products was 24.51%, a year-on-year decrease of only 0.52 percentage points;
Cash Flow: Maintained stability, with a net cash flow from operating activities of 18.476 billion yuan, still at a sufficient level;
In addition, the company plans to distribute a cash dividend of 0.71 yuan per share (tax included) and will not implement a capital reserve transfer to increase share capital.
Business Transformation and Innovation: Diversified Development Enhances Resilience
In the face of challenges in the cement main business, Conch Cement actively promotes business diversification.
During the reporting period, the company's aggregate business performed well, with revenue growth of 21.4% to 4.691 billion yuan, and the gross margin remained high at 46.91%; the revenue of the ready-mixed concrete business increased by 18.64% year-on-year to 2.674 billion yuan. These two businesses have become important pillars for stabilizing the company's performance.
Innovation has become the core engine driving the company's high-quality development. The "Design/Preparation Technology of High-Speed Rail Anti-Corrosion Cementitious Materials" project participated by the company won the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, and the "Low Energy Consumption Deep Cooling Direct Delivery Oxygen-Enriched Combustion and Clinker Firing Matching Technology" led by the company won the Technology Progress Award in the building materials industry. In particular, the "Unmanned Transportation in Open-Cast Cement Mines" project of Haibo Company was selected as a typical application case by the National Mine Safety Supervision Bureau, highlighting the company's leading position in digital transformation.
Capacity Layout and International Strategy
During the reporting period, Conch Cement maintained the pace of capacity construction, advancing both domestic and international strategic layouts:
- Domestic relocation projects commenced operations, integrating and optimizing capacity
- Conch Cement in Andijan, Uzbekistan commenced production, and Conch Cement in Phnom Penh, Cambodia is expected to be completed in February 2025
- The aggregate business launched 6 projects, adding a capacity of 14.5 million tons
- The ready-mixed concrete business added 15 projects, increasing capacity by 12.1 million cubic meters
- The installed capacity of solar energy storage power generation increased by 103 megawatts, with a total installed capacity of 645 megawatts
These measures have enabled the company to maintain development resilience in the face of pressure on its cement main business, providing new growth points for future performance
Cost Control and Green Development
On the cost side, the company's comprehensive cost of cement clinker decreased by 8.65% year-on-year, especially with fuel and power costs dropping significantly by 13.32%, reducing their proportion of total costs from 58.40% to 55.41%. This decline is significantly higher than the decrease in raw material costs (6.87%), reflecting the company's outstanding achievements in energy management.
In the environmental protection field, the company fully implements national carbon peak and carbon neutrality policies and actively promotes energy conservation and emission reduction:
- Continuously advancing comprehensive energy efficiency improvement technical reforms, completing the renovation of 9 clinker production lines
- Increasing the scale of alternative fuel usage, with the proportion of alternative fuels rising to over 10%
- Domestic company's carbon dioxide emissions were 17.229 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 6.2%
- A total of 24 subsidiaries have passed the A-level enterprise evaluation for performance grading in heavy pollution weather in the cement industry
In addition, the company plans to invest 11.98 billion yuan in capital expenditures by 2025, continuing to promote main business projects, industrial chain extension, environmental protection technical reforms, and the cultivation of new productivity. Among them, it is expected to add 19.6 million tons of aggregate production capacity and 27.8 million cubic meters of commercial concrete capacity, continuing to deepen the industrial chain extension strategy