Hill: ‘2023 was an exceptional year’ for Vulcan Materials

By Kevin Yanik| February 16, 2024

Tom Hill, chairman and CEO of Vulcan Materials Co., touted the company’s performance of late as his organization released its fourth-quarter and year-end 2023 results Friday.

Total revenues, gross profit and adjusted EBITDA were all up at Vulcan in the fourth quarter. Those marks were also up across all of 2023 for the nation’s top crushed stone producer.

“2023 was an exceptional year for Vulcan Materials,” Hill says. “We generated over $2 billion in adjusted EBITDA, a 24 percent increase over the prior year; expanded EBITDA margin by 360 basis points; and generated $1.5 billion of operating cash flow that can be deployed to grow our business.”

Aggregate volumes were also up at Vulcan in the fourth quarter, climbing 2 percent. The company’s aggregate volumes slipped 0.1 percent for the year.

Still, the report Vulcan released Friday reinforces the gains the company has made of late in pricing. In aggregates, Vulcan’s freight-adjusted sales price per ton was up 13.9 percent in the fourth quarter and 15.8 percent across all of 2023.

The company’s gross profit-per-ton and cash gross profit-per-ton marks were also up significantly in the fourth quarter and across the full year.

“Our industry-leading aggregates cash gross profit per ton increased each quarter on a year-over-year basis and was $9.46 per ton for the full year – a 21 percent improvement over the prior year,” Hill says. “Six consecutive years of unit profitability improvement during a continuously shifting macro backdrop demonstrates the durability of our uniquely positioned aggregates-led business.

According to Hill, Vulcan remains in a position to deliver another year of earnings growth and strong cash generation in 2024.

“The pricing environment remains positive, and we expect pricing momentum and operational execution will lead to attractive expansion in aggregates unit profitability, regardless of the macro demand environment,” Hill says.

Vulcan does expect its aggregate shipments to be flat to down 4 percent this year, but the company expects to make additional gains related to its aggregate business, including in cash gross profit per ton and freight-adjusted pricing.

“We carry momentum into 2024, and our focus is the same: compounding unit margins through all parts of the cycle and creating value for our shareholders through improving returns on capital,” Hill says.