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A n n u a l R e p o r t 2 0 1 3
Annual Report 2013
In addition, TCL Guyana Inc. (TGI) substantially completed
the development of its ISO 14001 system and is scheduled
to have its EMS Certification Audits by mid 2014.
During the year, the TCL Group also joined the international
community in observing the ILO’s World Day for Safety
and Health at Work (April 28) and the UNEP World
Environment Day (June 5), by publicly publishing special
safety and environmental messages in the local print
media, disseminating internal communications Group-
wide, and holding various company activities.
In 2014, the primary areas of focus will be: ensuring
thorough accident and incident investigation and
reporting and completion of corrective and preventive
actions stipulated from investigations of such incidents.
Additionally there will be greater coordination with
Operations for timely close out of HSE non-conformities
and hazardous conditions, and completion of formal OSH
Risk Assessments with due consideration of health risks
and human factors.
2.0 FINANCIAL REVIEW AND ANALYSIS
Review of 2013
The Group turned around its financial performance for
2013 as a result of the streamlining of operations and
improved demand in key markets. In order to ensure
that expenditure was aligned with inflows, the Group
implemented a number of initiatives aimed at aggressively
pursuing new markets while controlling costs. There were
minor headcount reductions at the three (3) cement plants
in Trinidad, Jamaica and Barbados and various non-core
operations were outsourced. Overall, clinker content was
reduced through conversion of markets to blended cement
and the use of alternative fuel initiatives was intensified.
New markets such as Brazil, the French West Indies, Haiti
and Belize were penetrated and are now being supplied
on an on-going basis.
Additionally, the plant in Jamaica secured a clinker supply
contract with the Government of Venezuela as part of
the Trade Compensation Mechanism enshrined in the
PetroCaribe Agreement. The Government of Jamaica’s
debt to Venezuela is about US$2.5 billion and this debt
can be serviced with Jamaican manufactured products,
with interest payments of US$110 million in 2014. TCL’s
plant in Jamaica can supply up to 500,000 MT per annum
of product under this arrangement. In the meantime,
existing markets have stabilised or become buoyant
as in the case of Trinidad, Guyana and Suriname. As a
consequence, the financial performance of the Group has
shown significant improvement in 2013 as compared to
2012. For the year ended December 31, 2013, EBITDA
was $404.3 million compared to $169.4 million for the
prior year period.
Revenue
The Group’s third party revenue for the year 2013 increased
by $325.1 million or 20% compared with 2012. This was
driven by increased volumes and higher average selling
prices in the Trinidad and Jamaica markets.
In Trinidad, cement sales increased by 106k metric
tonnes or 21% compared with 2012, due to an increase
in construction activity, while list prices across product
categories were increased by 9.5%, effective January
2013. It must be remembered that 2012 was the year
of the 92-day strike at TCL, which negatively impacted
demand in Trinidad & Tobago.
In Jamaica, cement sales volume increased by 58.4k metric
tonnes or 11% compared to 2012, due to additional
market share gained, as total market demand was largely
flat for the year. In addition, price adjustments were
implemented during 2013, effectively increasing list prices
by 24% compared to 2012, to counter the impact of the
depreciation of the Jamaican dollar on imported input
costs and the general inflation trend.
In Barbados, sales volume declined by 14.6k metric tonnes
or 15% as compared to 2012, while selling prices were
unchanged.
Export cement volumes (manufactured cement) increased
by 120k metric tonnes or 26% compared with 2012, due
in part to the increased availability of cement following
the resumption of full production at the TCL facility,
while average export prices were 15% higher in 2013 as
compared to 2012. There was strong growth in the Group’s
export sales to Guyana (20%) and Suriname (72%) on the
basis of new customers causing market share to grow.
Concrete revenue increased by $39.1 million or 29%
compared to 2012, driven by a 14% increase in sales
volume and 2% higher average selling prices.
The packaging sector also recorded improved performance
with sack and sling sales increasing over 2012 by 14%
and 9% respectively.
In 2014, the primary areas of focus will be: ensuring thorough accident and incident investigation
and reporting and completion of corrective and preventive actions stipulated from investigations
of such incidents.
Group CEO’s Report &
Management Discussion 2013 (continued)
