Vulcan Materials beats quarterly profit estimates on strong construction materials demand

July 29 – Vulcan Materials beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by strong demand for its ​construction materials such as crushed stone, ‌sand and gravel.

Strong investments in infrastructure, data centres and energy projects have boosted demand for companies such as Vulcan Materials. Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions and higher ‌energy ​prices have boosted the input ⁠costs of such companies.

Here ⁠are some details:

• “The pipeline for strategic acquisitions remains active and we have the financial strength and flexibility to capitalize on the ​most value-accretive opportunities,” CEO Ronnie Pruitt said.

• The company reiterated its forecast for ⁠full-year adjusted earnings before interest, ⁠taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).

• Strong ​public construction activity and large projects across most ​of Vulcan’s markets helped boost its aggregates ‌shipments by 1% in the second quarter from a year ago.

• The company said shipments in Texas and certain southeastern markets were ⁠impacted by heavy rainfall in the May-June period.

• Its non-aggregates segment was affected by higher asphalt costs ⁠and lower ‌shipments due to weather.

• Vulcan’s ⁠total revenue rose about 3% to $2.16 ​billion ‌in the quarter ended June 30, ​beating analysts’ ⁠average estimate of $2.12 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

• Quarterly adjusted profit came in at $2.59 per share, higher than $2.45 a year ago.

(Reporting by Jahanvi Kothari in Bengaluru; Editing by ​Shreya Biswas)