PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) —The Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) said it expects construction activity will remain sluggish during the coming year, particularly in Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados in the face of “increasingly aggressive competition in the region”.

In its audited financial report for the 12 months ending December 2016, TCL, which is the subject of a takeover by the Mexican-based cement giant, CEMEX, said it remains confident that the restructuring initiatives completed so far positions the Group on the path for creation of long-term value to all the stakeholders.

It said that the board of directors will continue to focus on three key elements to reinforce the position of the company including seeking out and developing new markets for all its products.

TCL said that its results for fourth quarter last year was significantly impacted by the adverse economic conditions affecting one of its major markets, Trinidad and Tobago.

It said that the contraction in the construction sector has been significant and that “our revenue in the final quarter of 2016 of TT$450 million (One TT dollar =US$0.16 cents) represented a decline of six per cent when compared with 2015.

“Increased cement sales in Jamaica that came from a combination of infrastructure projects, government projects and the retail trade, provided some buoyancy in an otherwise depressed collection of Caribbean markets.

“Overall, the Group generated TT$1.9 billion of revenue during 2016, an 11 per cent decrease over 2015,’ the TCL Group said, adding that the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment, and manpower and stockholding restructuring costs for 2016 was TT$464.2 million, reflecting an adjusted margin of 25 per cent.

During the year, the TCL Group said it absorbed a number of one-time charges amounting to TT$140 million including TT$44.5 million from manpower restructuring exercises; TT$72 million in respect of overstocked spares which exceed the foreseeable operating requirements of the Group and seven million dollars in relation to obsolete inventory items.

“The outcome of all this was that Group profit after tax was TT$52.4 million, representing TT$0.10 earnings per share.

“Going forward however, these restructuring activities will help to reduce the overall cost structure and will enable the Group to be even more competitive in the future,” the TCL said, noting that in comparing its 2016 profit after tax to the 2015 result, “we note the one-time benefit of TT$205.8 million in 2015 which resulted from renegotiating and settling the restructured debt under the Override Agreement.

“Adjusting for the effects of these one-off items from the results of both years, the profit after tax of 2016 would have declined by 24 per cent compared to 2015. We are encouraged that the Group generated very healthy cash flows from operations of $530.8 million during 2016.”