Cement News tagged: Corporate
SCG expects slower 2014 growth on impact of political instability
Siam Cement Group (SCG) said it expects cement demand growth in Thailand to decelerate this year compared to the seven per cent advance seen in 2013, due to a slowdown in government infrastructure spending as a result of political unrest. Consumption has only increased by two per cent since the beginning of this year, versus a six per cent advance in the fourth quarter of last year, Reuters ...
Cargotec's MacGregor completes acquisition of Aker Solutions unit
Cargotec's MacGregor has completed the acquisition of the mooring and loading systems business from Aker Solutions. Cargotec announced the agreement to acquire the unit in October 2013 for an enterprise value of approximately EUR180m. The unit will be consolidated into MacGregor's results as of 1 February 2014. "The addition of the mooring and loading systems' team members, technologies and ...
Fitch affirms Siam Cement ratings, outlook Stable
Fitch has affirmed Siam Cement Co's (SCC) National Long-Term Rating at 'A(tha)', National Short-Term Rating at 'F1(tha)' and its senior unsecured debentures at 'A(tha)'. The outlook is ‘Stable. Fitch expects SCC's capex to increase in 2014-2015 as it expands its businesses, particularly in Southeast Asia. A majority of investments will be in the cement and building materials businesses. It e...
Martin Marietta to take over Texas Industries
Martin Marietta Materials, currently the fourth-largest US aggregates producer, is making an agreed, all-share offer for Texas Industries. If concluded, it will leave existing Martin Marietta Materials shareholders with around 69 per cent of the combined equity, with the remaining 31 per cent going to the existing owners of Texas Industries. Martin Marietta will thereby enter the cement ind...
Spanish cement demand drops 19% in 2013
The Spanish cement market contracted by a further 19.2 per cent in 2013, bringing national cement consumption to 10.981Mt from 13.597Mt the previous year, according to Oficemen, the cement association of Spain. The country’s cement producers, who experienced the sixth-consecutive year of double-digit decreases, were forced to rein in output by 14.9 per cent, producing 13.17Mt during the year...
Cimko to receive IFC loan, euro syndicated loan
The IFC is to provide a long-term financing package to Turkish cement producer Cimko to back investments in the ready-mix concrete segment and energy efficiency, the international lender has said. The debt facility includes a US$40m loan for IFC's own account and a syndicated loan of EUR18m from BNP Paribas Fortis SA/NV mobilised by IFC. The IFC said the project is expected to stre...
Holcim Romania appoints new director general
Francois Petry has been appointed director general of Holcim Romania, effective 1 February 2014, replacing Daniel Bach. Bach has recently been appointed Area Manager for southeast Asia and will be responsible for Holcim subsidiaries in Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, Holcim Romania said in a statement. “Romania is one of the most important markets of Holcim...
Qatar National Cement posts US$119.7m net profit in 2013
Qatar National Cement Company registered an increase in net profit to QAR436m (US$119.7m) for the 12 months to December 2013, compared to QAR425.3m a year earlier, the company said yesterday in a bourse filing. Earnings per share (EPS) stood at QAR8.88, up from QAR8.66. The company's board of directors has proposed a 60 per cent cash dividend for 2013, translating into QAR6/share.
Al Jouf reports 75% drop in quarterly net profit, Saudi Arabia
Al Jouf Cement posted weak fourth-quarterly financial results, with earnings declining by 74.59 per cent YoY and 16 per cent QoQ to SAR6.1m (US$1.6m). The results missed Al-Rajhi Capital estimates of SAR22m and consensus forecast of SAR20m. Al-Rajhi believes that the company’s weak performance was a result of a decline in the value and volume of sales due to sluggish cement demand during th...
Henan Tongli anticipates full-year decline, China
Henan Tongli Cement Co Ltd expects 2013 net profit to decline to between CNY40m and CNY80m (US$6.6m and US$9.9m), a YoY decline of 51.28-75.64 per cent, the company said in a statement. The Shenzhen-listed cement manufacturer attributes the downward trend in performance to decreasing sales price.
December profit but full-year deficit remains for INC
Paraguay’s Industria Nacional de Cemento (INC) grossed PYG4bn (US$860,080) in December, according to its president, Jorge Mendez. It is the third-consecutive month that the cement producer returns a positive balance and the company attributes it to the implemented financial and commercial measures. However, while in the October-December period, profits reached PYG7.435bn, for the full-year ...
Exane BNP downgrades Lafarge to “underperform”
Exane BNP Paribas downgraded its opinion on Lafarge from “outperform” directly to “underperform”. However, the analysts raised the target price from EUR50.5 to EUR58. “Lafarge is exposed to structural problems, including in the Middle East and Africa, where the company has more than 40 per cent of its equity invested,” says Exane. The commissioning of new capacity in these always offers at...
Semen Indonesia in joint venture talks
Semen Indonesia is in early talks to establish joint ventures with three potential partners, the company’s president director, Dwi Soetjipto, has revealed. Speaking to local press, Dwi said that three investors have “declared their interest to create joint ventures with Semen Indonesia,” including investors from Indonesia and overseas. Indonesia’s leading cement producer is still reviewi...
KHD misses 2013 margin guidance, Germany
KHD Humboldt Wedag of German has said it will miss its margin guidance for the 2013 financial year due to “unexpected profit deterioration in the latest cost estimations of a few major projects.” In a statement released yesterday, the Germany-based equipment supplier said that according to preliminary unaudited figures, it will close 2013 with a “significant increase in revenues”, EBIT o...
Attock Cement first-half profit declines, Pakistan
Pakistan producer Attock Cement reported a nine per cent decline in net profit for the the first half of FY14 to PKR871m (US$8.26m). “The decline in profitability of the company is due to a higher tax rate,” JS Global Capital analyst Atif Zafar said, adding that inflationary pressures, particularly higher electricity rates in August last year negatively affected earnings. In the second qua...
Unye Cimento to open Romanian branch
Turkish cement producer Unye Cimento Sanayi ve Ticaret is to open a branch for the import, export and sale of bulk and bagged cement in Romania’s Black Sea town of Mangalia, the company said. The branch will take over the operations of the company’s Romanian unit Unye Cem SRL, Unye Cimento said in a bourse filing on Tuesday, without providing further details.