Cement News tagged under: corporate
Cemex surges on euro zone deal, 3Q results28 October 2011, Published under Cement NewsShares of Mexico’s Cemex surged 19 per cent on Thursday, prompting exchange authorities to briefly suspend trading in the stock, which was helped by news European leaders had reached a long-awaited deal to boost the region’s bailout fund. Cemex has operations in several European nations. Its shares in Mexico traded at 5.93 pesos, up 17.89 per cent with less than half an hour before the closing bell. Its New York-traded stock soared nearly 23 per cent to $4.55. A report on Wednesday showin... |
EU clears Etex for Lafarge gypsum assets28 October 2011, Published under Cement NewsBelgian building materials group Etex won European Union approval on Friday to purchase most of Lafarge’s plaster activities in Europe and South America. Lafarge is selling assets as part of a plan to cut its debt by EUR2bn. The European Commission, the EU competition watchdog, said the parties were not close competitors and the transaction would not significantly alter the market structure. While there was some overlap in the production of fire resistant boards, the Commission said this ... |
Holcim, investor partner oppose bid for Afrisam28 October 2011, Published under Cement NewsAfrisam Ltd’s largest shareholders, including Holcim Ltd, said they oppose a takeover bid by South Africa’s government-owned pension fund manager because it will undermine efforts to redistribute wealth to black investors. The Public Investment Corp. and former MTN Group Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Phuthuma Nhleko, who is black, are bidding to convert debt they own in South Africa’s second-largest cement- maker into shares as interest repayments threaten Afrisam’s operations. In 2006 Holci... |
Lafarge WAPCO nine month profit rises 2.8%28 October 2011, Published under Cement NewsLafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria Plc, a unit of Lafarge SA, posted a 2.8 per cent increase in nine-month net income to NGN5.8bn (US$36m) as revenue climbed, it said in a statement emailed by the Nigerian Stock Exchange today. Revenue rose 35 pe rcent to NGN44.6bn, from NGN33bn over the same period a year earlier, according to the statement. The growth outpaced expectations of a net loss in the period at Vetiva Capital Management, said Oluwakemi Oluwakiyesi, a Lagos-based analyst with the broke... |
CRH downgrades by Credit Suisse to "neutral"28 October 2011, Published under Cement NewsCRH PLC was downgraded by equities research analysts at Credit Suisse from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. Separately, analysts at Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of CRH PLC from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note to investors on Thursday, October 20th. Analysts at HSBC upgraded shares of CRH PLC from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note to investors on Mon... |
Citi cuts Asia Cement China to sell27 October 2011, Published under Cement NewsCitigroup downgrades Asia Cement China to Sell from Buy after changing its valuation methodology to EV/ton from P/E. The house cuts its target price to HK$2.96 from HK$7.99, despite raising FY11-12 net profit forecasts by 27% and 7% respectively on stronger-than-expected prices. "We forecast margin to stabilise as its major markets have well balanced demand/supply. However, we think investors would shift their focus from profit to asset, in a risk reverse environment," the house said. It ... |
RAK Cement posts second consecutive quarterly loss, UAE27 October 2011, Published under Cement NewsRAK Cement Company recorded a net loss of AED11.4m (US$3.1m) in 3Q11, compared with a profit of AED1.1m in the same period of last year. This is the company’s second consecutive net profit quarterly loss. Selling prices have witnessed a decline compared to the previous year, in addition the company posting lower sales volume due to Ramadan. However export sales grew 125.9% in 3Q11 to reach 52,600t as the company received tenders from Kuwait, Oman and Iraq. Cost of sales dropped to AED50.6... |
Citi slashes Conch target 39% but still keeps at Buy27 October 2011, Published under Cement NewsCitigroup slashes Anhui Conch Cement’s target to HK$28.05 from HK$45.77, as it takes into account the risk aversion in the market, and changes from P/E valuation to EV per tonne; but it keeps the stock at Buy. The house says Conch delivered strong 3Q numbers, with gross profit/ton staying above CNY132, gradually trending up, and has gone beyond CNY140/t in October. "If all rumours on price cuts had been right, gross profit/tonne for the company would have fallen below CNY100. The previou... |
CRH announces non-executive Board appointment27 October 2011, Published under Cement NewsThe Board of CRH plc announced the co-option to the Board on Wednesday 26 October 2011, of Ernst Bärtschi, as a non-executive Director. Mr Bärtschi (59), who is a Swiss national, is Chief Executive of Sika AG, a manufacturer of specialty chemicals for construction and general industry. Prior to joining Sika, he worked for the Schindler Group and was Chief Financial Officer between 1997 and 2001. Over the course of his career he has gained extensive experience in India, China and the Far Eas... |
Suez Cement hit by declining prices, Egypt27 October 2011, Published under Cement NewsSuez Cement of Egypt reports that during the first nine months of 2011 domestic cement demand decreased by 4.3% compared to the same period of 2010 while the sales of Suez Cement group of Companies decreased by 11.6 % over the same period. During the third quarter of 2011 the cement market suffered from the ongoing weak demand, capacity additions mainly through the new cement producers, fuel cost increases and declining prices. As a result of this the consolidated net sales of the Suez ... |