MEXICO CITY, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Mexico's Cemex

beat estimates to post a 19% jump in third-quarter

core earnings as it boosted prices and benefited from

cost-cutting measures.

The cement maker said on Tuesday that it had logged $882

million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and

amortization (EBITDA) for July-September, comfortably above an

LSEG consensus estimate of $858 million.

Increased prices helped revenue tick 5% higher, despite

cement sales volumes being flat while volumes for ready-mix

concrete and aggregates such as sand and gravel slipped

slightly.

Cost-cutting measures including headcount reductions

resulted in around $90 million in savings. Cemex's workforce

dropped to just over 40,200 employees in the quarter, a 9%

decline from the same period a year earlier.

Net income tumbled 35% to $264 million, mainly due to

one-off gains the previous year from the sale of operations in

Guatemala. Without that factor, net profit climbed 8%, Cemex

said.

Under CEO Jaime Muguiro, who took the helm in April after

his predecessor retired, Cemex has sought to shed non-core

assets and focus more on its aggregates business in the United

States. In July, he flagged that more divestitures were in the

works.