Cement News tagged: Corporate
HeidelbergCement BB+ confirmed on Italcementi deal - Fitch
US ratings agency Fitch has confirmed the 'BB+' rating on German cement maker HeidelbergCement (HC), with outlook stable, following the company's announced purchase of Italian peer Italcementi. HeidelbergCement intends to finance the EUR4.3bn eal (including Moroccan minorities) with EUR800m in shares sold to the seller, EUR1bn in disposals, EUR800m in capex and working capital savings and the...
Asia Cement 1H profit plunges, China
Asia Cement (China) said its profit attributable to owners for the six months ended 30 June 2015 plunged 97.4 per cent YoY to CNY9.85m, attributable to the decrease in average selling price of the company's products. The revenue was CNY3006m, a decrease of 23.1 per cent from a year earlier. The gross profit margin on revenue dropped to 14 per cent from 24 per cent.
Bolivia: Fancesa launches tender for new works
Bolivia’s Fábrica Nacional de Cemento SA (Fancesa) has launched the international tender process for its new US$227m cement plant in Sucre. The 2Mta works is the latest step in capacity expansion for the cement producer. On 19 May 2014, Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, inaugurated a new line at the company’s Sucre works.
Steppe Cement names new chairman
Steppe Cement Ltd on Monday said it has appointed Paul Rodzianko, independent non-executive director, as its independent non-executive chairman. Rodzianko is currently the chairman of Steppe Cement's audit committee and a member of its nomination and remuneration committees. The new chairman is taking over from Malcolm Brown, who retired on 28 May due to health reasons.
Gulf Cement 1H profit down 29%, UAE
Gulf Cement Company reported a 29.34 per cent drop in first-half profit drop to AED30.89m (US$48.4m), compared to AED43.7m (US$12m) in the same period of 2014. On a more positive note, second quarter profit increase from AED15.75m versus AED9.3m in 2Q14 according to Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. The company previously reported profits of AED15.14m in 1Q15, compared to AED53m in 1Q14, regist...
Buzzi Unicem: strong growth in America
Buzzi Unicem's first-half turnover improved by 4.9 per cent to EUR1238.2m and EBITDA rose by 20.3 per cent to EUR166.6m. The depreciation and impairment charges came down by 22.4 per cent to EUR96.5m as the writing off goodwill in Ukraine was not repeated. The first half trading profit recovered further from EUR14.1m to EUR70.1m, but the interest charge rose by 10.3 per cent to EUR51.8m an...
Vicat’s cement volume declines but cement EBITDA improves
Vicat's first-half turnover improved by two per cent to EUR1243.6m, which amounts to a 6.1 per cent reduction on a comparative basis. EBITDA declined by 2.2 per cent to EUR203.1m and the margin narrowed from 17.1 per cent to 16.3 per cent. The trading profit came off by 19.2 per cent to EUR93.3m, an underlying reduction of 25.4 per cent. After a net financial charge 5.9 per cent lower at EU...
Martin Marietta sees higher building volumes
Martin Marietta Materials, one of the top five US aggregates producers, has announced a first-half turnover 46.9 per cent ahead at US$1612.7m, thanks to the initial consolidation of TXI, formerly Texas Industries, and the EBITDA rose by 71.6 per cent to US$303.2m. The trading profit jumped by 102.5 per cent to US$162.5m and after a net interest charge that was 53 per cent higher at US$38.4...
Vulcan’s profit falls following exceptional gains in previous year
Vulcan Materials' first-half turnover rose by 11.8 per cent to US$1526.4m, but EBITDA declined by 31.8 per cent to US$300.2m. The trading profit fell by 44.8 per cent to US$164.59m after the exceptional gain on the disposal of the cement business in the previous year. After a net interest charge nine per cent lower at US$146.1m, the pretax profit dropped by 86.6 per cent to US$18.9m. The net ...
Cemex completes refinancing of its 2012 facilities agreement
Cemex announced yesterday that it has fully repaid the total amount outstanding of approximately US$1.94bn under the facilities agreement dated 17 September 2012, as amended from time to time, with new funds from 17 financial institutions. These lenders have joined the credit agreement dated 29 September 2014, as amended (the Credit Agreement) under new tranches, allowing Cemex to increase the...
US May shipments down 4.5% YoY
Total shipments of Portland and blended cement in the US and Puerto Rico in May 2015 fell by 4.5 per cent YoY to 7.8Mt, data from the US Geological Survey released yesterday shows. Shipments for the year through May totalled 31.9Mt, up by 2.6 per cent for the same period in 2014. The leading producing states for Portland and blended cement in May were California, Missouri, Texas, Florida and ...
Wet weather dampens Eagle Materials' 1Q
Eagle Materials' turnover, including its share of the Texas Lehigh cement joint venture, increased by 4.4 per cent to US$312m for the first quarter of fiscal 2016 ended 30 June 2015. The trading profit improved by 0.9 per cent to US$60.4m and after an interest charge 10.7 per cent higher at US$4.49m, the pre-tax profit was ahead by just 0.2 per cent to US$55.9m and the net attributable profi...
DBN ups stake in Ohorongo Cement, Namibia
The Development Bank of Namibia has increased its stake in Ohorongo Cement, which is majority-owned by Schwenk Zement KG of Germany from 10 to 11.72 per cent. "The bank's decision to increase its shareholding in Ohorongo Cement is firstly driven by its equity investment strategy to take up shareholding in business projects and secondly its desire to invest in quality assets with potential to ...
Francis Flower acquires Hanson Cement's GGBS unit, UK
Mineral resources company Francis Flower yesterday announced the acquisition of the ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) facility in Scunthorpe, UK, from Hanson Cement. The business is capable of producing more than half a million tonnes of GGBS every year and supplies customers in the Midlands and North of England. GGBS complements Francis Flower’s existing range of high quality powd...
Spain: Cementos Portland Valderrivas 1H loss increases
Cementos Portland Valderrivas has seen 1H losses of EUR39.9m, 28.9 per cent higher than in 1H14, when it recorded a loss of EUR31m. The result is attributed to the lower sales of CO2 emission rights, which reached EUR10.6m, and a change in the way the cost of maintenance stoppages is accounted for (EUR3.2m). Turnover has increased 11.3 per cent to EUR289.2m thanks to increases in sales ...
CRH completes Lafarge-Holcim transaction
CRH announced that the transaction to acquire certain assets from Lafarge SA and Holcim Ltd for a total enterprise value of EUR6.5bn is now complete, with the exception of the Philippines which is expected to close in the third quarter of this year. The deal was initially announced in on 2 February 2015, with a binding agreement sealed between the companies towards the end of May. Commenting...