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's debt would likely hit as much as ZAR12bn (US$982m) in the next two years and possibly breach agreed covenants with banks. "We wouldn't want to stretch our balance too much. The focus currently is on existing projects," Castle told reporters.

Work is also due to begin imminently on construction of the previously-announced 2.2Mta cement plant in M'Sila in Algeria, according to Algeria's investment promotion agency, Agence nationale de développement de l'investissement. The project is being developed by a consortium of PCC and a local private firm, Hodna Cement Company, and will be situated in M'Sila, southeast of Algiers.