LafargeHolcim - July 2016

LafargeHolcim has agreed to sell Lafarge India to the Indian conglomerate Nirma Ltd for around US$1400m. It will be Nirma’s first investment in the cement sector and comes in spite of a marginally higher offer from a Chinese cement producer. The deal involves three cement works and two grinding centres with a combined capacity of some 11Mt and is also one of the largest ready-mixed concrete producers in India. The disposal of some cement operations were demanded by the competition authorities as a condition of approving the Holcim Lafarge merger.

LafargeHolcim has also agreed to sell Holcim Lanka in Sri Lanka to Siam City Cement for US$400m. Holcim Lanka owns one integrated cement works and one grinding centre with a combined capacity of 1.7Mta. It is anticipated that this deal will be completed during the third quarter of the current year.

ACC’s first-half cement volume increased by 3.8 per cent to 12.48Mt while the ready-mixed concrete output advanced by 11.4 per cent to 1.3mm³. The turnover was 0.8 per cent lower at INR57.933bn while EBITDA was 5.7 per cent lower at INR8.9115bn, but the pretax profit did advance by 30.3 per cent to INR632.44m and the net attributable profit advanced by 26 per cent to INR4.6607bn.

Ambuja Cement is increased its first-half cement volume by 3.5 per cent to11.62Mt and the turnover edged ahead by 0.7 per cent to INR50.0535bn, while the pretax profit rose by 31.5 per cent to INR9.6668bn and the net attributable profit advanced by 29.3 per cent to INR7.0327bn.