Cement News tagged: Corporate
Holcim and Lafarge receive EC approval for CRH as buyer of divestment assets
The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of several assets of Holcim and Lafarge by Irish building materials manufacturer CRH. The Commission concluded that the transaction would raise no competition concerns, in particular because the merged entity will continue to face sufficiently strong competition after the merger and customers will have ...
UltraTech full-year net profit down 6% YoY
India’s largest cement manufacturer UltraTech Cement reported a six per cent drop in its net profit for the year ended 31 March 2015 to INR20.15bn versus INR21.44bn in the previous year. Net sales were 13 per cent at INR22,656 crore against INR20,078 crore in the previous year. The Aditya Birla group firm noted that although there was some relief from softening coal prices, the cost of lim...
New Caribbean Cement GM appointed
Cemex executive Alejandro Vares has been appointed general manager of Caribbean Cement Company Ltd (CCCL), replacing incumbent head Anthony Haynes, effective 4 May 2015. Vares will leave his position as Interim Country Manager of Cemex Costa Rica to join the Rockfort, Kingston-based cement producer, Caribbean Cement said in a press release. The appointment was approved by the Board of...
CRH Group Finance Director to assume Global Group Transformation role effective January 2016
CRH plc announces that Maeve Carton, Group Finance Director, will lead a new strategic group function within CRH, commencing on 1 January 2016. As Group Transformation Director, Maeve will identify and implement the optimum financial and business model for the Group in the years ahead. In this new role, Maeve will drive improved shareholder returns by identifying further synergies, efficien...
Cemex improves first-quarter trading profit
Cemex' first-quarter turnover declined by 5.3 per cent to US$3399.87m, but EBITDA did improve by 6.3 per cent to US$568.54m. Helped by a 12.7 per cent reduction in the depreciation and amortisation charge, the trading profit rose by 25.3 per cent to US$335.32m. The net interest charge declined by 15.3 per cent to US$338.08m, to give an 82 per cent drop in the pre-tax loss from US$167.88m to...
Cemex Latin American Holdings held back by weaker cement sales in Colombia
Cemex Latin American Holdings' turnover declined by 16.3 per cent in first quarter of the year to US$353.8m and EBITDA fell by 20.3 per cent to US$112.4m. At the trading level there was a 23.6 per cent reduction to US$90.2m. After an interest charge 15.6 per cent lower at US$20.6m and other items, the pre-tax profit declined by 23.3 per cent to US$72.3m and the net attributable profit came ...
Bestway acquires Lafarge Pakistan unit
Bestway Cement Ltd, a subsidiary of Bestway Group, has taken management control of Lafarge Cement's plant located near Kallar Kahar, Pakistan. To mark the acquisition, a ceremony was held at the plant on Wednesday, which was attended by Sir Anwar Pervez, the owner of Bestway Group and Amr Ali Reda, the CEO of Lafarge Pakistan, among others. In July 2014 Bestway successfully bid f...
Jaiprakash Associates to seek shareholders' approval for divestments to UltraTech
Jaiprakash Associates Ltd will next month seek approval from its shareholders and creditors for the proposed sale of its cement units to UltraTech Cement. "Pursuant to an order dated March 25, 2015...the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad has directed meetings of the equity shareholders and creditors of Jaiprakash Associates to be convened on May 16...for considering the scheme of ar...
Cementir full-year expectations in line with 2014
Italian cement major Cementir has confirmed the expectations for a 2015 in line with 2014, chairman and CEO, Francesco Caltagirone Jr, said at the end of the shareholders' meeting. The company may benefit from the drop in oil price and the appreciation of the dollar. An upgrade of the 2015 targets is possible, Mr Caltagirone noted. On its domestic market of Italy, the company head said that ...
Italcementi Group to acquire two Holcim facilities in the US
Essroc, the North American subsidiary of Italcementi group company Ciments Français, has signed an agreement with Holcim to purchase the slag cement grinding facility in Camden, New Jersey, USA. As part of the transaction, Essroc will also obtain Holcim cement terminal in Everett (Massachusetts). The acquisition will be finalised pending completion of the Holcim and Lafarge merger later this y...
Ha Tien 1 Cement net profit surges, Vietnam
Ha Tien 1 Cement JSC (HT1) said its net profit jumped to VND250.36bn (US$11.64m) in the first quarter of this year, from VND2bn in the same period of 2014, thanks to an increase in financial incomes and a decease in financial costs. Vietnam's largest cement maker by market capitalisation, said net revenue fell 4.25 per cent YoY to VND1.6trn in the January-March period, HT1 said in its quarte...
PPC to ease expansion, focus on existing projects
PPC said it will expand more slowly after spending on its 'Rest of Africa' projects has raised its debt load, the company's chief executive said on Wednesday. PPC is building plants in African countries as part of a wider plan to generate 40 per cent of its sales outside its home market by 2017. However, spending on these projects is pushing up its debt levels and CEO Darryll Castle said PPC'...
ISS backs LafargeHolcim deal
US shareholder adviser ISS has recommended that Holcim investors back the Swiss cement maker's proposed merger with Lafarge ahead of next month's shareholder vote on the tie-up. Backing from ISS is a boost Holcim as it seeks to win the support of two-thirds of investors at a shareholder meeting on 8 May 2015 to approve a capital increase to fund the proposed deal. ISS said in its report to i...
Ciments de Bizerte registers 20% drop in 1Q15 turnover
Tunisia’s Ciments de Bizerte saw its turnover fall by 19.6 per cent YoY in 1Q15 to TND11.115m. In Tunisia, the figure fell by 11.5 per cent as domestic demand fell by 9.7 per cent. However, the company noted a 84 per cent drop in exports due to the volatility of the Algerian market and the weak demand from Libya.
Century Textiles to reportedly spin off cement unit
Century Textiles, owned by Birla patriarch Basant Kumar Birla, will spin off its cement business and merge it in an all-share deal with UltraTech Cement, owned by grandson Kumar Mangalam Birla, two people with direct knowledge of the plan have told the Economic Times of India. "Both companies are in the final stages of a plan to merge the cement businesses," one of the two persons said. "The ...
Semen Indonesia eyeing another Vietnamese acquisition
Semen Indonesia is looking to acquire a second cement producer in Vietnam to further bolster its presence in the southeast Asian country. Director of finance Ahyanizzaman said Semen Indonesia had assigned a total capital expenditure of between IDR7trn (US$545.8m) and IDR11trn this year to boost its operations, which includes the takeover of the Vietnamese company. He said that the firm was ...