(1888PressRelease)
March 19, 2009 - Mira, Portugal – SADIF Investment Analytics SA, today announced the release of a new equity research report covering HeidelbergCement AG (HEI). The report utilizes SADIF's powerful StockMarks™ stock rating system and is required reading for any current or potential HeidelbergCement investor.
Report Summary: German-based HeidelbergCement AG is one of the largest building material manufacturers in the world. The company's preliminary full-year results for 2008 announced on February 9th reveal good performance despite the weak global market for building materials and a strong Euro. HeidelbergCement reported increases in both turnover and operating income during the past year. The company also announced progress on the integration of UK-based rival Hanson Plc, which HeidelbergCement acquired in August 2007. Nevertheless, shares in HeidelbergCement have crashed more than 80% since May 2008. HeidelbergCement expects to reduce costs in the current year through building greater synergies with Hanson but remains cautious about 2009, stating that “it is impossible to make substantiated forecasts regarding market development”.
Investors and analysts will have a better chance to see the company's plans for the coming year on March 19th, when HeidelbergCement holds its press and analyst conference on its annual accounts. The company remains hopeful that stimulus plans enacted by governments around the world will increase demand for cement and building materials for the construction of infrastructure. In order to avoid speculation and focus on the solid facts when making any investment decision, we should look at the company's long-term underlying fundamentals. We can assess HeidelbergCement's fundamentals through the use of the StockMarks framework. HeidelbergCement currently has an overall long-term investment-attractiveness rating (Total StockMark or SMT) of 58, rating close to the German market average. This rating places HeidelbergCement third relative to ten of the company's closest German peers, selected on the basis of similarity of business, market positioning factors such as size and share comparisons.
The complete report breaks down the Total StockMark into its three components – Business, Management and Price, performing a thorough analysis of HeidelbergCement for long-term investors.
A summary of the StockMarks™ ratings for HeidelbergCement is available here:
http://sadifanalytics.com/stockmarks/company.php?ticker=HEI&cod_country=39
The report has been distributed to Reuters, and forwarded to Yahoo Finance and FT.com. It is available under 'Analyst Reports' from these websites, from multiple professional platforms including Reuters Knowledge, TheMarkets.com and Thomson Research or directly from SADIF-Investment Analytics SA at:
http://sadifanalytics.com/stockmarks/article/hist_article.php?cod_country=39
About SADIF-Investment Analytics SA:
SADIF-Investment Analytics SA is an independent investment research company covering sixteen different markets and over 12,000 companies. The StockMarks™ system is based on proven investment principles and is designed to drive long-term shareholder returns.
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