REG - Steppe Cement Ltd - Trading Statement

Steppe CementAnnouncement

11/01/2023 07:01

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20230111:nRSK3291Ma&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 3291M  Steppe Cement Limited  11 January 2023

11 January 2023

Steppe Cement Ltd

Preliminary Update for the Year ended 31 December 2022

Steppe Cement Limited ("Steppe Cement") recorded good revenue growth in 2022
with positive market conditions for the business. The focus has been on the
domestic market where Steppe Cement's market share remains resilient.

Steppe Cement recorded revenue for the year ended 31 December 2022 of 40,023
million Tenge ("KZT"), which was 11% higher than the KZT 36,020 million
recorded for the previous year. In 2022, cement sales volume was 1,670,174
tonnes, being slightly lower than the 1,688,544 tonnes achieved for the
previous year. The average price (ex-VAT) for delivered cement was KZT 23,963
per tonne in 2022, representing a 12% increase on the KZT 21,332 per tonne
achieved in 2021. The average ex-factory price in 2022 stood at KZT 20,970 per
tonne compared to 18,134 in 2021, which represents USD 45 per tonne based on
2022's average exchange rate of USD/KZT 461 vs 426 in 2021. As we were limited
by our production, we concentrated on the markets closer to our factory.

In 2022, the cement market consumption in Kazakhstan remained at 11.6 million
tonnes.

Steppe Cement's local market share was 14.5% compared to 13.9% in 2021.
Exports have been reduced to zero to optimize logistics and concentrate sales
in more attractive domestic markets. Overall, Kazakhstan imported 0.7 million
tonnes of cement (vs 0.8 million tonnes in 2021) and exported 1.1 million
tonnes (vs 1.6 million tonnes in 2021).

Official inflation in Kazakhstan was 20.3% and will have a significant impact
on production costs in 2023, but we continue our capex program to increase
production capacity of clinker and higher grades of cement by the summer of
2023, as well as to reduce power and coal consumption.

There were extreme weather conditions in Kazakhstan and logistical
difficulties in the railway network in November and December 2022. The board
is working to try to minimise their impact in 2023.

The full results and audited accounts denominated in USD are expected to be
published in May 2023.

Steppe Cement's AIM nominated adviser and broker is RFC Ambrian Limited.

Nominated Adviser contact: Stephen Allen or Andrew Thomson on +61 8 9480 2500.

Broker contact: Charlie Cryer at +44 20 3440 680

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  TSTFIFIFLAILLIV