Cement News tagged: Corporate
HeidelbergCement reduces debt, profit edges ahead
German cement major HeidelbergCement reported increases in revenue and operating income in 2012 as well as a significant reduction in net debt. Revenue for the 12 months to December 2012 improved by nine per cent to EUR14bn. Operating income climbed nine percent to EUR1.613bn, benefiting from price increases, exchange rate effects and the successful implementation of the "FOX 2013" savings ...
Moody’s upgrades Holcim outlook
Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded Holcim’s outlook to stable, ending 15 months on a negative watch. Moody’s said it changed the outlook citing cash generation as cement sales in the US and emerging markets improve, according to reports by Bloomberg. Holcim maintained its investment-grade rating throughout the European financial crisis. Holcim’s Leadership savings program should gain...
PT Indocement net profit rises 32.2%, Indonesia
PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa, part of the HeidelbergCement group, has reported a 32.2 per cent rise in net profit for 2012. The country’s second-largest cement producer saw net profit rise to IDR4.76trn (US$491m) through the year while net income grew to IDR17.20trn, a rise of 24.5 per cent YoY. Indocement is currently working on adding some 6.3Mta of additional capacity by 2015. Pro...
PPC Zimbabwe secures funding for new project
PPC Zimbabwe has secured US$200m to build a second plant, according to local press reports. Chief executive, Zak Limbada, said: “We have secured US$200m for the projects but I cannot disclose the source at the moment,” All Africa press quoted him as saying. “Drilling is ongoing and we hope to have sample results (of limestone) in the next two months. With the permission of various regula...
China's cement sector faces impact of new property control policies
The Chinese cement sector recovery is likely to face further headwinds in the near-term given stricter property control policies announced on 1 March. The government is to initiate an array of measures including higher transaction duties, increased down payments and mortgage interest rates and strict purchase qualifications, as it tightens its grip on the real estate sector. China...
Lucky Cement appoints new CFO
Lucky Cement has appointed Muhammad Faisal to be its chief financial officer. ??He replaces Muhammad Abid Ganatra.
Thatta Cement majority shareholder shares stake to consortium
The majority shareholder of Thatta Cement, Pakistan, has sold its stake to a consortium of four private companies. In an announcement sent to the Karachi Stock Exchange last week, Arib Habib Corp (AHC), along with its subsidiaries, said it has sold its 61 per cent holding in Thatta Cement to the consortium PKR24.16/share. The total value of the transaction is approximately PKR1.46n (US$14.7...
Habesha Cement appoints new chairman, Ethiopia
Habesha Cement of Ethiopia has appointed a new chairman as well as new board members to reflect changes in the company's shareholding. Tamiru Wondimagegn has been appointed as Habesha Cement’s new board chairman replacing Eng Gizaw Teklemariam. Mr Wondimagegn is a lawyer and board member of the cement company. Habesha Cement, which was established in 2010 with 16,000 shareholders, has el...
Vicat grows in Asia
France-based cement major Vicat reported a 1.2 per cent rise in turnover in 2012 to €2292.2m, but the EBITDA declined by 10.9 per cent to €437.4m and the trading profit fell by 20.8 per cent to €245.2m. The company booked a pre-tax profit 20 per cent lower at €207.6m and the net attributable fell by 21.1 per cent to €129.1m. Net debt was 6.2 per cent higher at €1,144m and represents 46.4...
Cementir boosts white cement volumes in China and Malaysia
Cementir Holding increased turnover in 2012 by 6.4 per cent to €976.2m and the EBITDA was ahead by 11.2 per cent to €138.1m as the margin improved from 13.3 per cent to 14.1 per cent. Depreciation and impairment provisions were 2.2 per cent higher at €89.9m, giving a trading profit advance of 33.2 per cent to €48.2m. After a net financial charge 3.5 per cent lower at €21.8m, the pre-tax pro...
Credit Suisse upgrades HeidelbergCement
Credit Suisse has upgraded HeidelbergCement from underperform to neutral and increased its target price to EUR53.00 from EUR37.00, Dow Jones reports. The bank says a more upbeat outlook for global cement prices this year and increasing demand improve the industry’s pricing power. CS also cited lower cost pressures and HeidelbergCement’s fading balance sheet concerns as reasons for the upward...
Tangshan Jidong to issue short-term bills, China
Tangshan Jidong Cement Co Ltd has announced that it plans to issue CNY1bn in unsecured short-term bills with a maturity of 365 days on the interbank market on 14 March. The coupon rate will be determined in the process of book-building and the bills issued at face value. Both value date and payment due date is on 15 March and the to-be-issued bills tradable on 18 March. China Lianhe Credit R...
Seacem sells 4.3 per cent in Lafarge Republic, Philippines
Southeast Asia Cement Holdings, Inc (Seacem) has sold around four per cent of its stake in affiliate Lafarge Republic, Inc. "Seacem has... sold 50 million of its shares of stock of Lafarge Republic, or 4.3 per cent of Seacem's total Lafarge Republic shares, to the public consisting mostly of institutional investors," Seacem said in a disclosure yesterday.
UltraTech sales decline 6% in February
UltraTech Cement, India’s largest cement producer, has reported a six per cent decline in February 2013 sales, amid wider concerns of subdued demand across the domestic market. The Aditya Birla group company sold 3.31Mt of cement last month compared to 3.51Mt in the same period of last year. Production during February 2013 also dropped to 3.32Mt compared to 3.46Mt in February 2012. The c...
Macquarie more positive on China cement sector
Research house Macquarie is turning more positive on the cement sector and expects to see more signs of downstream demand recovery in mid-2013 following a recent market visit. Macquarie has lifted its target price for Anhui Conch to HK$30 from HK$17.5, and upgraded the stock to "neutral" from "underperform". It has increased its 2013-14 earnings forecast by 8-11 per cent to factor in strong...
Former SibCem CEO nominated to return as director, Russia
One of Sibirskiy Cement (SibCem) founders, former President and CEO Andrey Muraviev has been nominated for the holding company's board of birectors, according to the RUXX Index which tracks SibCem said in a statement released yesterday. SibCem shareholders explain their decision to nominate Muraviev by their hope that "the former executive's experience would help the company recover its mar...