Cement News tagged: Corporate
HeidelbergCement improves margins and profit
HeidelbergCement's turnover increased by 6.7 per cent last year to EUR13,465m and the EBITDA improved by a 14.2 per cent to EUR2612.7m and the trading profit advanced by 15.7 per cent to EUR1846.1m. After a 14.3 per cent reduction in net interest payments to EUR396.3m, the pre-tax profit rose by 41.1 per cent to EUR1313.4m and the net attributable profit jumped by 64.7 per cent to EUR800.1m...
Glenwood PE to acquire Lafarge Halla
South Korea’s Glenwood Private Equity (PE) has inked a deal to acquire Lafarge Halla Cement Corp. from LafargeHolcim Ltd. for about KRW630bn (US$542m), said the company Thursday. LafargeHolcim said it expects to close the sale of Lafarge Halla, Korea’s fifth-largest cement producer, in the 2Q16, subject to final approvals. The sale follows several other ownership changes in the South Kore...
AfriSam breaks ground on new Lesotho facility
AfriSam has broken ground on a blending and packing facility with an initial capacity of 0.2Mta at the company’s existing distribution centre in Maseru, Lesotho, South Africa. Completion is scheduled for 3Q16. AfriSam has partnered with a local company, Cement Industries Ltd, to co-invest in the new plant project. “AfriSam’s new plant will comfortably meet the local cement demand and will ...
Fitch: West China Cement's weaker operating results outweighed by Anhui Conch's takeover
Fitch Ratings believes West China Cement Ltd's weaker operations – as reflected in the 2015 results – is outweighed by its pending takeover by Anhui Conch Cement Company Limited (Conch, A-/Stable). Fitch's Rating Watch Positive on WCC is driven by the potential further integration between Conch and WCC, which will be resolved once the transaction is completed. WCC's performance in 2015 was ...
LafargeHolcim: synergies and net debt targets exceeded in 2015
LafargeHolcim’s FY15 results show a 4Q15 net loss of CHF2.86bn (US$2.94bn), including CHF3bn impact of asset impairment and other charges. The company’s net debt level was recorded at CHF17.3bn (US$17.8bn), while 4Q15 cash flow was CHF813m (US$839.6m) after adjusting for one-off items of CHF166m. The group’s 4Q15 results were impacted by challenges in the markets of Brazil, Switzerland, China...
Kenya: Bamburi Cement sees 50% profit hike in 2015
Bamburi Cement’s profit jumped 50.4 per cent YoY to KES5.8bn (US$748m) in 2015 as both domestic and overseas sales saw growth. Operating expenses increased 29 per cent YoY to KES5.2bn. The profit was achieved despite a slowing Kenyan economy in 4Q15, according to Bruno Pescheux, group MD. The 2015 market conditions were more favourable compared to 2014, with stable micro-economic conditions f...
Ghana to restrict cement imports
The Ghanaian government has announced plans to restrict cement imports into the country with Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Minister of Trade and Industry, proposing the curtailment. "The Ministry of Trade and Industry proposes through legislative instrument to impose a ceiling on the annual importation of cement into Ghana. Companies that wish to import bagged cement shall be issued a permit to av...
Domicem inaugurates new mill
Domicem, owned by Italy’s Colacem, has inaugurated its new vertical mill at its plant in south-central San Cristobal province of the Dominican Republic. The new mill was supplied by Loesche GmbH and represents an investment of over DOP900m (U$19.66m). It will enable Domicem to reduce power consumption by around 35 per cent while lifting production capacity by over 10 per cent. The project ...
PPC eyes longer-term growth outside of Africa
PPC has unveiled a new expansion strategy that envisages doubling the business every 10 years and growing beyond its traditional markets in Africa. In an investor presentation posted on PPC's website ahead of this week’s Merrill Lynch conference in Sun City, the company set out its ambitions for the future even as it warned of falling cement sales in the first months of FY16. In the pre...
Cementir: hearing with creditors and opening of creditors’ vote for Sacci's composition
Cementir Holding has announced that the hearing with creditors for Sacci’s composition, which includes the offer to purchase its business divisions submitted by Cementir Holding’s subsidiary Cementir Italia Spa, was held on 14 March 2016 before the Court of Rome. The offer was formally accepted by the Board of Directors of Sacci Spa during its meeting on 10 March 2016. Sacci’s creditors wi...
Sberbank and Eurocement agree debt restructuring deal
Russia's leading cement producer, Eurocement group, and Sberbank CIB have agreed on conditions for restructuring the company’s loan portfolio. The deal envisages pushing back loan repayments worth RUB42bn (US$597.8m) and US$360m by up to six years and optimisation of interest rates. The conditions for restructuring the debt portfolio will enable Eurocement group to take a more flexible a...
Algeria: Sour El Ghozlane back in production
Buzzi Unicem's cement plant at Sour El Ghozlane, Algeria, has returned to production following the repair and installation of new electrostatic precipitators (ESPs). The production facilities have been out of action for two months, resulting in a cement shortage in the country’s central region.
Vicat’s profits declines in most markets
French cement major Vicat saw its profits decline in most markets last year with the USA and India being the only exceptions. Turnover improved by 1.5 per cent in 2015 to EUR2457.9m and EBITDA was up by the same percentage to EUR448m, while at unchanged parameters there would have been declines of 4.4 per cent and 4.3 per cent, respectively. The trading profit fell by 4.8 per cent to E...
CRC attributable profit drops 76% YoY
China Resources Cement (CRC) said its profit attributable to owners for the year ended 31 December 2015 dropped 75.9 per cent YoY to HKD1015m (US$130.8m). Turnover was HKD26,779m, a decrease of 18 per cent from a year earlier. The consolidated gross margin was 24 per cent, representing a decrease of 7.3 percentage points from 31.3 per cent for 2014. The average selling price of cement las...
DG Khan: southern expansion progressing well
Pakistan producer DG Khan Cement has reported that its southern expansion project is progressing well and is scheduled for commissioning in 2QFY18. The 2.7Mta plant, which will involve an investment of US$275m, is being established in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. According to the company's half-year results, a letter of credit for the mills and and packing plant has been opened in...
Paraguay: INC expects annual sales up US$60m due to new mill
Paraguay’s Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) expects to see annual sales up by US$60m following the commissioning of its new mill in 2H16, according to CEO, Jorge Méndez. At present, the company sells around US$90m in bagged cement. Assembly of the new mill, which is manufactured by Sinoma of China, will be carried out by local company Engineering SA. The project represents an investment...