Cement News tagged: Corporate
Qilianshan Cement's net profit to drop by 50% in 1H
Gansu Qilianshan Cement Group Co Ltd, a Shanghai-listed cement producer, forecasted on June 27th that its net profit will decrease at least 50% on-year in the first half of 2012.
Cimpor asset swap to lift Votorantim capacity by 15Mta
Votorantim Cimentos and InterCement (part of the Camargo Corrêa Group) have signed an agreement to undertake a corporate reorganisation of Cimpor. The procedure will give Votorantim control over the Portuguese cement company's assets in seven countries and result in the full separation of Votorantim and InterCement as Cimpor shareholders. After securing approval in all legal steps foreseen ...
KKR eyes stake in Sree Jayajothi Cements, India
Private equity firms Blackstone Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) are discussing a large stake buy in the cement unit of the Shiram Group, the Times of India reports. Shriram EPC, which took controlling stake in Andhra Pradesh-based Sree Jayajothi Cements, plans to raise more than INR400 crore to boost operations. KKR already holds a stake in another Indian producer, Dalmia Cem...
Strabag announces new CEO
Contractor Strabag has announced that Thomas Britel will become CEO in 2014 as part of the group’s restructuring of its management board and organisation. Hans Peter Haselsteiner is resigning as CEO, with current management board member Mr Birtel his appointed successor due to take the helm in June 2014. Deputy CEO Fritz Oberlerchner will also resign from the management board effective 3...
Boral lowers expectations, Australia
Boral has announced that it expects net profits for the year ending June 2012, to be in the region of AUD100m-110m, assuming that two property disposals are still completed this month, as anticipated. This compares with a previous guidance of AUD128m to AUD153m, made in April. While the performance in Asia and in the USA have been largely in line with expectations, the Australian performan...
Lafarge to cut a further 97 jobs in France
Lafarge expects to cut a further 97 jobs in its domestic market of France as part of a plant to merge its three French divisions into one, to be headquartered in the Paris region. Lafarge, which employs a total of 68,000 people including 5300 in France, said in February it would cut 460 jobs worldwide, including 90 in France as part of a its corporate restructuring announced in November 201...
IFC invests in Titan's operations in Western Balkans
Titan Cement announced the completion of a EUR50m equity investment by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Titan’s subsidiaries in the Western Balkans region including Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo. The transaction results in IFC holding, through Titan Cement Cyprus, a minority stake of approximately 11.5 per cent in Titan’s operations in the aforementioned countries. The Greec...
S&P lowers Cimpor to 'BB'
On June 26, 2012, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its long-term corporate credit rating on Cimpor to 'BB' from 'BBB-' and its short-term rating to 'B' from 'A-3'. The ratings remain on CreditWatch negative, where they were placed on April 3, 2012. The downgrade follows the announcement and settlement of Brazilian holding company Camargo Correa’s SA (CCSA’s) successful takeover of ...
China Resources Cement's 1H profit likely to fall 21%
China Resources Cement has warned of a sharp drop in gross profit margin in 1H12 to 21 per cent from the 33 per cent last year as selling prices for cement products have fallen. "Starting from 2012, the market selling prices of cement products in China have continued to drop generally. Inevitably, the selling prices of the group's cement products have been impacted," it said in a statemen...
Moody's says CCI ruling to hurt Holcim & Lafarge
Moody's has said the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) decision to impose a penalty on 11 cement producers is 'credit negative' for global cement majors Holcim and Lafarge both of which have Indian interests that have been fined. The agency said that the indirect consequences of the CCI decision is more harmful than the cash-outflow due to the penalty. "We believe that indirect cred...
Cemex launches refinancing plan
Cemex launched a proposal on Monday to refinance debt due in 2014. The company said it will propose a three-year extension of debt maturing in February 2014 to February 2017, and it plans a US$1bn pay down of debt in 2013, which may include some asset sales. The company said it had meetings scheduled with its lenders on June 29 and July 2 to discuss the refinancing proposal, which was negotia...
Holcim investor sells CHF320m stake, Switzerland
Holcim's third largest investor, The Capital Group Companies, sold a CHF320m (US$333m) stake in the Swiss maker of cement on 20 June. The asset manager now owns 2.96 per cent, Holcim said in a press release, down from 4.9 per cent as of 13 September, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The Capital Group Companies share sale was completed on June 20, according to a statement from the Swiss SIX...
Ricardo Lima to become new Cimpor CEO, Portugal
Ricardo Lima, currently vice president of operations of InterCement, is to be the new CEO of Cimpor following, parent company, Camargo Corrêa’s takeover of the Portuguese cement major last week. Ricardo Fonseca de Mendonca Lima has been at his current role at InterCement since 2004. Last Wednesday, Brazilian industrial conglomerate Camargo Correa completed its takeover of Cimpor, controlli...
Conch acquires stake in Xingjian Qingsong, China
Anhui Conch Cement Co has completed the acquisition of a 19.99 per cent stake in Xinjiang Qingsong Building Materials and Chemicals (Group). The company said in a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange that, together with an Anhui Province-based subsidiary, it bought 137.8 million shares of Qingsong Building Materials through a private placement. Qingsong Building Materials ear...
Tangshan Jidong Cement acquires majority stake in Wubao Jidong, China
Tangshan Jidong Cement announced it has acquired a 51 per cent stake in Wubao Jidong Special Cement for CNY173m, reports Securities Times, citing a company filing yesterday. At the same time, Shandong Linqu Shengwei Special Cement acquired a 10 per cent interest in Wubao Jidong Special Cement for CNY34.1m. According to Tangshan Jidong Cement, the acquisition will not have a significant i...
Concerns over Ghana’s cement duopoly
The World Bank has expressed its concern over the dominance of Ghana Cement Company (Ghacem) and Diamond Cement Company in the sale of cement in the country, local press report. The bank is worried that the two companies control more than 80 per cent of the market and suppress competition in the sector with negative consequences on the prices and supply of cement to the building and constru...