Cemex 2013 Annual Report Download - page 6

STOCKHOLDERS
Despite sometimes volatile markets, we began to regain
our momentum. As a result, we made good progress on
all of our important commitments—delivering signif-
icant, positive results for our stakeholders, including
our customers, communities, employees, and you, our
stockholders. Of course, we have a long way to go to
meet the ambitious goals we have set for ourselves, but I
am confident that the work we have done to intensify our
customer focus, improve the quality of our products and
services, and reshape our portfolio and our balance sheet
will win in the marketplace.
2013 marked our third consecutive year of operating
EBITDA growth. For the year, our operating EBITDA rose
1% to US$2.6 billion, with a 2% increase in our consol-
idated net sales to US$15.2 billion. On a comparable
basis, we also increased our operating EBITDA margin
If I had to describe this year in a
few words, I would say that we are
delivering.
dear fellow
by 0.3 percentage points. Improved pricing and volume
in most of our regions, our continued cost-reduction
efforts, as well as our healthy operating leverage in the
U.S., drove operating EBITDA growth and margin ex-
pansion. Nonetheless, our operating free cash flow after
maintenance capital expenditures was US$(89) million
for the year.
In addition, we increased our return on capital, which, of
course, is one of the most important metrics for every
business and every investor.
These improvements—and, more importantly, the
momentum that has continued into 2014—reflect our
focus on the variables we actually control, as opposed
to macro developments that we cannot influence. Our
teams around the world are executing our value-driven
pricing strategy, outsourcing support activities where
that makes operating and economic sense, developing
new products and integrated services to match customer
requirements, and maintaining strict discipline when it
comes to costs. Indeed, we are vigilant about our cost
base, seizing every opportunity to drive down costs and
maximize our operating efficiency. As a result, we deliv-
ered approximately US$100 million in savings during the
second half of 2013 through our cost-reduction initia-
tives in Mexico and Northern Europe alone.
One of our most important continuing initiatives is the
implementation of our value-before-volume pricing
strategy. This has meant educating our sales force, as well
as our customers, to the true costs and full benefits of
our products and services, and assuring that we are pric-
ing our products correctly. The goal is to achieve sustain-
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