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Is your company being affected by the credit crunch?
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Yes, and I am tightening up my procedures to collect faster |
42% |
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Yes, it's getting tighter |
20% |
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No, but I am worried it will be soon. |
19% |
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No, we charge everything |
13% |
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Yes, we can't get it |
6% |
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Financial
Vitro sales up, earnings down in first quarter
Higher energy costs affected yet another glass manufacturer. Although consolidated sales increased 6.1 percent in the first quarter over last year for Vitro S.A.B. de C.V., Mexico, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell 15.6 percent, according to an April 28 Vitro earnings report.
“The top line was what we expected, demand was strong and sales were up,” said Enrique Osorio, chief financial officer, in the report. “Higher energy costs and a temporary decline in production resulting from the planned refurbishing of four glass container furnaces, however, impacted EBITDA for the quarter.”
Consolidated sales for the flat glass division increased 5.1 percent over last year, and EBITDA dropped 15.7 percent, according to the report.
“While [flat glass] sales in our U.S. subsidiary declined, sales in Spain continued to grow despite the contraction in residential construction in the country,” said Hugo Lara, flat glass president, in the release. “Auto sales, in turn, increased for both the original equipment manufacturing and auto glass replacement markets. … Following our strategy to extend our European presence, on April 1, 2008, we purchased a small glass company in Paris for [$5.6 million]. This company, now called Vitro Cristalglass France SAS, is dedicated to the transformation and commercialization of value added glass for the commercial and residential markets.”
The fundamentals of the business have not changed, Osorio said, in the release. “The top line was what we expected, demand was strong and sales were up. In fact, on a comparable basis, sales for the quarter reached an all-time high of $640 million. Higher energy costs and a temporary decline in production resulting from the planned refurbishing of four glass container furnaces, however, impacted EBITDA for the quarter. But overall, our business remains strong.”
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