The titles of the Mexican cement company cemex They collapsed on Thursday morning, cutting some 14.5 billion pesos (about $845.84 million) from their market capitalization in a single day.after reporting more losses in the fourth quarter hit by the payment of a fine in Spain.
The shares were headed for their worst day in almost two years, down 6.5 percent to 13.9 pesos, even after the company’s chief financial officer, Maher Al-Haffar, said at a conference that they expect to pay the most of the fiscal provision related to the fine its Spanish unit in 2024.
Earlier, cemex reported a deepening of its losses in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to the same period of the previous year, up to $441 million, although it also proposed a dividend program that would distribute a total of $120 million during the first year.
“We wouldn’t have announced a dividend payment unless we were really very confident that at some point this year we were going to get our investment grade rating back,” Al-Haffar said.
cemex It has been trying to recover its credit rating for more than a decade, selling assets and cutting its debt.
Even after the unflattering results, its general director, Fernando González, said in the conference with analysts that he is “optimistic for 2024, especially with regard to our main markets of Mexico and the United States.”
The executive also noted that the company is willing to make additional price increases during the year if necessary to compensate for inflation.
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If it were not for the impact of the fine in Spain, cemex would have obtained a net profit of about 172 million dollars in the quarter, according to its report.