Carthage Cement fulfills its commitments to its partners and strengthens its market position in 2020

During a press conference held at the headquarters of the Tunis Stock Exchange at Berges du Lac I, Monday March 22, 2021, the results of the financial situation of Carthage Cement for the year 2020 were announced in the presence of the Director General of the company Mr Brahim Sanaa and the Managing Director of Karama Holding, Mr Adel Grar.

The managing director of Carthage Cement announced during the communication that the company maintains an honorable position among its competitors on the Tunisian market with an attendance rate of 23.99% in 2020 against 21.76% in 2019. The company achieved a turnover of 253 MTD against 249.6 MTD in 2019, an increase of 1.4%.

Thanks to structural reforms and 100% Tunisian skills, the company was able to achieve production rates of 1,424,998 tonnes of cement last year, compared to 1,431,268 tonnes in 2019.
 
The company's export ratios reached 9.66% last year, up from 9.99% in 2019. Despite the pandemic Covid-19 crisis and market fluctuations, Carthage Cement's market share is increased from 21.7% in 2019 to 24% in 2020, confirming its leadership position for the third consecutive year.

Mr. Brahim Sanaa estimated that 2020 was a fruitful year in terms of capital raising results and respect for the commitment of Carthage Cement in front of its partners (banks and Al Karama Holding Corporation) who have placed their trust to company employees. This resulted in an operating profit of 100 million dinars, net profits of 19 million dinars, despite the repercussions of the pandemic on sales and production.

The Director General added that they had succeeded in achieving the stated aspirations in this regard:
- The capital increase from 171 million dinars to 343 million dinars
- Reducing the company's debt ratios by around 30% and converting part of these bank surpluses into contributions to the profits of bank shareholders to the tune of around 19%.
- The production of 560 thousand tons of clinker during the last quarter of 2020

Mr. Brahim Sanaa indicated that the figures recorded in 2021 are very encouraging and respect what was communicated in the business plan submitted to the Stock Exchange and to the partners.

Creation of a branch of the company in Italy to facilitate export to the European market

During the press conference, it was announced that Carthage Cement will establish a branch in Italy to facilitate the marketing of its products at a production rate of around 150,000 tonnes to European markets.
It was also announced that the company is heading towards the Libyan market, following intense demand from that country for its products.

The company has achieved positive results in its internationalization to African countries since 2018, with the export that same year of 568,000 tonnes of clinker. Carthage Cement therefore has a strong interest in exporting this material to the Italian market and others.

Expectations and optimism to achieve significant production and export rates in 2021

Carthage Cement supervisors plan to produce around 1,750,000 tonnes of clinker and sell 1,500,000 tonnes on the local market and 520,000 tonnes for export. This in order to achieve an operating result of 136 MTD and thus a net profit of 50 MTD.

For his part, the managing director of Karama Holding, Adel Grar, considered that what has been achieved by the board of directors of Carthage Cement is very encouraging for investment and confidence in its future, considering that what has was achieved is the result of intense and serious restructuring efforts.

5 Tunisian and foreign investors' files to set aside 58.2% of the capital

Adel Grar announced, during the press conference, the completion of the preliminary examination of the initial offer and of the transfer requests for the dissolution of 58.2% of the capital of Carthage Cement, which represents a direct aid and indirect from the State, 5 cases having been selected for Tunisian and foreign investors from Qatar, Spain, Portugal and Africa. ..

The offers will be open at the end of May 2021 after trading in the shares is suspended until all five investors submit their financial offers in order to choose the best of them, which will help push the company to more success.