TCL records TT$97m loss for 2014

(Trinidad Express) Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) has recorded major losses for financial year 2014.

At a press conference at the Queen’s Park Oval, Woodbrook, on Monday, chief executive officer of the cash-strapped company, Alejandro Ramirez, noted that TCL’s profit before tax position fell by TT$136 million compared with 2013.

He noted that in 2013, pre tax profit stood at TT$39 million while in 2014, TCL recorded a loss of TT$97 million.

The company also recorded a loss after taxation of TT$211 million compared with a profit of TT$67 million in 2013.

However sales increased by nine per cent, from TT$1.9 billion in 2013 to TT$2.1 billion in 2014.

This was mainly driven by TCL’s cement and Readymix segments, the company noted.

“The EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) remained flat,” Ramirez added.

“It was TT$408 million flat against 2013. Despite that increase in the sales, EBITDA didn’t increase because there were some extraordinary items that affected the results,” he added.

He said these “extraordinary” expenses totalled TT$57 million and included the impairment of weather damaged clinker (last product in the process of cement-making), which was stored outside TCL’s Barbados subsidiary Arawak Cement Company for several years.