Cement News tagged under: Kenya

RSS feed

ARM Cement to relinquish Tanzania assets

18 June 2018, Published under Cement News

ARM Cement will include KES854.6m (US$8.45m) of additional assets in Tanzania to sweeten the deal for buyers of the company’s non-cement business, according to The Citizen. The company reached an agreement to sell its fertiliser and mineral production businesses in Kenya to Swiss firm Omya and Pinner Heights Ltd (PHL), a company owned by its CEO, Pradeed Paunrana, for KES1.6bn. Its latest annual report ARM said that the buyers could also acquire its non-cement operations in Tanzania for f...

CDC changes leadership at ARM to halt the decline

04 June 2018, Published under Cement News

British development financiers CDC have brought in Sophia Bianchi and Rohit Anand as new directors at ARM Cement, to replace replaced Ketso Gordhan and Pepe Meijer, after seeing its investment in Kenya’s Athi River Mining (ARM) plummet buy more than 90 per cent in just three years. CDC reported a KES6.9bn (US$68m) loss for the 2017 financial year on declining sales. The UK-based investment firm had to act to try and halt the slide. "The replacement of two board nominees…bring in subst...

East African Portland Cement Co to build inland container depot

13 April 2018, Published under Cement News

East African Portland Cement Co wants to establish an inland container depot in Athi River to deliver imported raw materials to its plant via the standard-gauge railway. Managing Director. Simon Peter Ole Nkeri. said the move could ease costs of finished products and make Kenya-made goods affordable in east Africa and competitive on the global stage. "We heavily rely on imported raw materials like clinker for the manufacture of cement. We are engaging the government on this issue and ar...

PPC considers expansion and possible sell-off in DR Congo

09 April 2018, Published under Cement News

PPC Ltd's Chief Executive Officer, Johann Claassen, has vowed to boost liquidity and extend debt maturity and he's eyeing future expansion for the company in east and west Africa. New investment would follow a ZAR12bn (US$995m) outlay on five plants in the past five years, which took PPC into countries such as Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. All are now in operation and generating cash, said Mr Claassen, allowing the company to consider new facilities. "We had to ste...

Bamburi Cement reports 66% fall in net profit for 2017

29 March 2018, Published under Cement News

Bamburi Cement has recorded a 66 per cent YoY fall in its net profit for the full-year 2017 period, decreasing to KES1.97bn (US$19.51m) from KES5.8bn. The results have been attributed to lower sales in Kenya after the prolonged election cycle, tightened liquidity and delayed projects, according to All Africa. Similarly, operating profit dropped 50 per cent to KES4.1bn as a result of lower revenue and higher energy prices. Overall, group turnover slipped KES2bn YoY to finish at KES36bn. ...

Savannah Cement sees opportunity with African trade agreement

26 March 2018, Published under Cement News

Savannah Cement of Kenya has optimism of growing trade following the signing of the KES3trn (US$29.7m) African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. Savannah Cement's CEO, Ronald Ndegwa, said that east Africa-based companies will soon start enjoying wider markets and opportunities. The AfCFTA signed last Tuesday in Kigali, Rwanda, seeks to create a single continental market for goods and services, with free movement of business persons and investments. This will pave the way...

Devki Group complains of substandard imports flood

20 March 2018, Published under Cement News

Devki Group's Chairperson, Narendra Raval, has spoken out against imported cement that is disrupting the Kenyan cement market and has criticised the Kenya Bureau of Statistics (KBS) and Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) for not taking action to protect local producers. Narendra Raval said: "Those importing to Kenya are not monitored. Their cement is substandard and below the normal 50kg. This is killing the local industry."  Mr Raval questioned why the KBS and KAM is not ...

Mombasa Cement increases market share

15 March 2018, Published under Cement News

Mombasa Cement has dislodged East Africa Portland Cement Co (EAPCC) from the second position in Kenya with a market share of 15.8 per cent, while EAPCC has dropped to third place with a market share of 15.1 per cent. Mombasa Cement's Nyumba brand just lies behind LafargeHiolcim's Bamburi Cement, which dominates the sector with a 32.6 per cent market share, according to Construction Kenya. The latest round of company results has seen both EAPCC and ARM Cement hit by falling revenues and...

ARM Cement issues profit warning for 2017

13 March 2018, Published under Cement News

Kenya-based ARM Cement has issued a profit warning for the 2017 period, suggesting that the company will post a loss of at least KES3.5bn (US$34.5m). According to a notice sent on Monday, the producer anticipates that the loss will widen by a further 25 per cent from KES2.8bn recorded in 2016.  "The Group’s performance has been adversely affected by difficult market conditions and import ban for coal in Tanzania, by the prolonged and disruptive election period in Kenya, as well as a strai...

Savannah Cement targets Big Four Agenda projects

02 March 2018, Published under Cement News

Savannah Cement will tap into Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta's Big Four agenda – manufacturing, universal healthcare, affordable housing and food security – as it enhances its supply focus on local and regional infrastructure development projects such as Standard Gauge Rail (SGR), Outering Road, Mutomo- Kibwezi Road among many others. Savannah Cement Managing Director, Ronald Ndegwa, said the agenda will help to create much-needed jobs for Kenya’s burgeoning youth population. "The Bi...