By Anthony Harrup

MEXICO CITY -- Cement maker Cemex SAB reported a sharp jump in first-quarter net profit on higher sales and operating gains amid a recovery in demand across most of its markets.

Monterrrey, Mexico-based Cemex made net profit of $665 million in the January-March quarter, equivalent to 42 U.S. cents an American depositary share, compared with $42 million or one cent a share in the first quarter of 2020.

Sales rose 11% to $3.4 billion, with higher cement sales by volume in most regions and higher prices in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America.

Cement sales by volume increased 9% to 16.2 million metric tons, the most for a first quarter since 2008. Ready mix concrete and aggregates sales were little changed at 11.6 million cubic meters and 31.7 million metric tons, respectively.

Operating cash flow measured by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, rose 28% to $684 million, and operating profit rose by half to $406 million, including gains from asset sales.

"We should be entering a period of sustainable growth for our major markets," Cemex said. The company raised its estimate for Ebitda in 2021 to $2.9 billion from $2.7 billion, and increased expected capital expenditures to $1.3 billion from $1.1 billion.

Net debt plus perpetual notes fell by $547 million during the first quarter to $9.6 billion, lowering the company's net debt-to-Ebitda ratio to 3.6 times from 4.1 times in December.

Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications

This item was corrected at 12:10 p.m. ET to show that Cemex's cement sales rose 9%, to 16.2 million metric tons, not to 15.2 million metric tons.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-29-21 0824ET