Cement News tagged: Corporate
Lafarge trims market growth outlook, debt reduction goal on track
Lafarge reported a marked rise in 2Q net profit although consolidated sales declined. The company has now trimmed its forecast for cement market growth this year but confirmed its goal to reduce debt to below EUR10bn this year. EBITDA fell eight per cent to EUR922m and current operating income declined 11 per cent to EUR667m. Net profit in the second quarter came in at EUR201m compared to ...
Cemex expects best volume growth from USA
Cemex reported a slight decline in turnover for the first half of 2013, with EBITDA also down marginally but the trading profit improved by double digits. While volumes were down in the first six months, the group sees full year sales edging ahead with the USA expected to show the best advance. Cemex' first half turnover eased by 0.7 per cent to US$7322.1m and EBITDA came off by 1.7 per ce...
Cementos Portland Valderrivas reduces 1H losses, Spain
Spain-based Cementos Portland Valderrivas (CPV) reduced losses by 98.9 per cent in 1H13, to EUR0.6m, compared with losses of EUR48.6m in the first half of the year before. CPV's asset swap with CRH earlier this year also provided capital gains of EUR104.8m. According to José Luis Sáenz de Miera, Chairman and CEO of Cementos Portland Valderrivas, results for the first half reflect "efforts la...
Hai Van Cement to issue shares to finance acquisition, Vietnam
Hai Van Cement JSC is to issue 21.46m shares in a move acquire Ang Son II Co the from Thang Loi Group Co. The volume will be sold to existing shareholders at VND10,000/shares at a 116-at-100 ratio, company said in a statement sent to the bourse. The proceeds, estimated at VND214.6bn (US$10.12m). Net profit jumps Hai Van Cement recently reported that it posted a net profit of VND10bn i...
Lafarge hit by winter weather and lack of carbon credit sales
Lafarge's first-half turnover eased by 4.8 per cent to EUR7248m (US$9628.3m) and the EBITDA declined by 14 per cent to EUR1302m, while the trading profit fell by 21.8 per cent to EUR791m. The gain from the sale of emission permits in the period was negligible compared with EUR46m a year ago. The net attributable profit amounted to EUR84m, compared with a EUR21m loss a year earlier. Net debt at...
Holcim streamlines Indian operations
Holcim is to increase its shareholding in Ambuja Cements as part of the Swiss major's strategy to restructure and streamline its operations in India. Through intragroup restructuring, Holcim will increase its shareholding in Ambuja Cements to 61.39 per cent and Ambuja in turn will acquire Holcim’s 50.01 per cent stake in ACC Ltd. Both Ambuja and ACC will continue to operate as separate entit...
Cemex Latin American Holdings recovers in 2Q
Cemex Latin American Holdings' first-half turnover improved by 2.8 per cent to US$814m and the EBITDA rose by 12.2 per cent to US$306.4m. The increase at the trading level was a somewhat more modest 7.3 per cent to US$260.3m. After a net interest charge of US$58.8m, the pre-tax profit emerged at US$193.4m. Net debt at the end of June stood at US$1411m, giving a gearing level of 103.9 per ce...
CRH likely to acquire Shriram Group cement business - report
Irish building materials major CRH is likely to acquire the cement arm of the Shriram Group, Sree Jayajothi Cements, three sources have told the Economic Times of India. The deal is likely to be announced “soon” according to one of the sources, adding that the “enterprise value of Sree JayaJothi Cements has been pegged at around INR1500 crore.” CRH is expected to pick up the stake through i...
Semen Indonesia gears up for further expansion
Semen Indonesia is lining up investments that could hit the IDR20trn (US$2bn) mark over the next three years to further increase capacity and boost operations. “We’re thinking ahead, so we can continue to increase our cement production and performance. Our investment into 2016 could reach IDR20trn in total.” Semen Indonesia’s finance director told the Jakarta Globe. Ahyanizzaman said the ...
ARM Cement to spin off non-cement business
Kenya-based ARM Cement plans to spin off and list non-cement business on the Nairobi bourse within three years. “We are very hopeful that in two to three years, we will have listed the new non-cement business and market it as an independent brand in the region,” managing director, said Pradeep Paunrana, adding that the company is laying grounds for the separation. “The businesses are intr...
Deutsche Bank downgrades Jaiprakash to “sell”, India
Deutsche Bank downgrades India's Jaiprakash Associates Ltd to "sell" from "hold", due to higher-than-expected debt. The bank says the company's consolidated debt of INR612bn (US$10.24bn) came in at INR10bn above its estimates. It has also cut its FY14 earnings estimates for the India-based cement producer by 14 per cent and that of FY15 by nine per cent, citing a "high degree of operating ...
Argos sees higher volumes in 1H13
Cementos Argos has reported a rise in cement volumes for the six months to the end of June 2013 and expects activity in its domestic market of Colombia to accelerate after a slow start in the first three months. In the 1H13, Argos reported consolidated EBITDA of COP476bn (US$253m), representing an increase of 25 per cent compared to the same period in 2012, while revenues rose nine per cent Y...
Shriram Cement confirms talks on cement unit sale
India-based producer Shriram Cement has confirmed that it is in talks with investors over the sale of its cement business. The statement came following news reports that CRH is to buy Shriram's cement unit through its Indian joint venture, My Home Industries. Shriram said it is in discussions with a couple of potential investors, including CRH, but that no decision has been finalised to-date...
Harris Associates builds up stake in Holcim, Switzerland
Holcim said Chicago-based asset manager Harris Associates LB acquired shares in the Swiss cement major and now owns a stake worth CHF654m (EUR530m) Harris notified that it owned 3.04 per cent of Holcim's shares, therefore making it the third-largest shareholder in the Swiss cement major.
Thai Binh Cement swings second quarter to net loss, Vietnam
Thai Binh Cement JSC swung to a net loss of VND1.5bn (US$70,740) in the second quarter of 2013 from a net profit of VND246m a year ago. The company generated revenue of VND16.5bn in 2Q13 compared to VND18.8bn over the same quarter of 2012. For the first six months to the end of June 2013, TBX reported VND300m net loss on VND33bn revenue, compared to VND1bn net profit and VND37.3bn a year ...
Optimisation projects expected to lift TCK net profit, Bosnia
Bosnian cement maker Tvornica Cementa Kakanj (TCK) expects its net profit to rise by 20-25 per cent to some BAM11-12m (EUR5.6-6.1m) thanks to optimisation measures. TCK’s cement sales are expected to be nearly flat at around 425,000t, director Branimir Muidza told SeeNews. However, ongoing investment and process optimisation measures are expected to bear fruit this year, leading to the proj...