Martin Marietta rolls

Martin Marietta Materials has jumped out to a hot start this year. The key statistic to note is that the company's heritage aggregates pricing was up 15% and volume up 8.5%. The almost universal uptick in pricing around the industry is welcome news, although the positive effects are somewhat dampened by the huge spike in diesel prices experienced in the market. Stephen P. Zelnak, Jr., Chairman and CEO of Martin Marietta Materials, stated, “The increases in aggregates shipments and pricing, coupled with our focus on cost management, resulted in a 610-basis-point improvement in aggregates operating margin as a percentage of net sales, in spite of the rising costs of diesel fuel, repair and supply parts, and freight costs embedded in the Corporation's long-haul transportation network. In fact, embedded freight costs per ton increased 22% when compared with the prior year's first quarter. . . . The outlook for the Aggregates business for 2006 is positive. We currently expect aggregates shipments volume to increase 3% to 4% and aggregates pricing to increase 11% to 12.5%. We expect the Aggregates segment operating margin to increase approximately 300 basis points."

Very solid indeed. Your comment?