Cement News tagged: Corporate
Fitch affirms Lafarge IDR at BB+
Fitch has affirmed the Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and the senior unsecured rating of Lafarge at BB+ with a "stable" outlook. The affirmations reflect Fitch's view that the group will continue to reduce debt and improve its credit metrics in 2012, the agency said in a statement today. Fitch expects Lafarge's leverage ratio to fall below 4.0x by the end of 2012, a level that would b...
Lafarge to start Tarmac asset sales by end-June
Anglo American and cement maker Lafarge are likely to begin selling a series of assets as required by UK regulators by the end of the month in order to proceed with a proposed joint venture, Lafarge's chief executive said on Tuesday. The UK’s Competition Commission said last month that the companies had to sell "an extensive package of operations" including one of the country’s largest cement...
Cemex wins arbitration over sale of some European assets
Cemex said Monday that an arbitration court has ordered Austria's Strabag SE pay Cemex EUR30m plus interest and other costs after the European company pulled out of a 2008 agreement to buy Cemex assets in Austria and Hungary. C emex said in a filing with the Mexican stock exchange that the International Arbitration Court of the International Chamber of Commerce ruled on May 31 that Strabag's ...
Baker and McKenzie advises Najran Cement Co, Saudi Arabia
Baker and McKenzie advised Najran Cement Company (NCC) on its initial public offering of 85,000,000 shares at SAR10 a share (IPO), representing 50% of its share capital at an aggregate offer price of SR850,000,000. Najran Cement was established in 2005 and has a cement capacity of 9000tpd. At present, the plant consists of two production lines and one grinding unit. To capitalise on expected ...
Fitch affirms HeidelbergCement at BB+
Fitch Ratings has affirms HeidelbergCement’s Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'BB+' and Short-term IDR at 'B'. The Outlook on the Long-term IDR is Stable. The agency also affirmed the senior unsecured rating of debt issued by HC's related entities, HeidelbergCement Finance BV, Hanson Ltd and Hanson Australia Funding Ltd. at 'BB+'. “The affirmations reflect HeidelbergCement's care...
Saudi cement producers see 1Q rise in net profit
Two leading Saudi Arabian cement producers have reported solid gains in the first quarter of 2012 driven by higher sales volumes as a result of rising local demand. Saudi Cement Company (SCC) said that its net profit for the three months through March 2012 surged 54.4% YoY to SAR325.6m (US$86.8m) from SAR210.8m a year earlier. Meanwhile, Eastern Province Cement Company registered a SAR10...
Bank of China runs Inner Mongolian cement producer debt offer
Bank of China Ltd has been mandated as lead underwriter and book-runner of Inner Mongolia Mengxi Cement Co's planned debt offering worth CNY400m (US$63m), China Knowledge reports today, citing unnamed sources. The Chinese cement producer plans to sell CNY400m of 365-day unsecured bills on 15 June. The bills will be issued on the interbank market and the coupon rate will be set during the bo...
Holcim Liban’s 2011 profits down by 15.9%, Lebanon
Holcim Liban reported net profits of US$28.3m in 2011, down by 15.9 per cent from US$33.7m in 2010, the Daily Star reports. Sales reached US$195.6m last year, representing a 5.7 YoY rise. Gross profits were US$35.6m in 2011, down by 11.6 per cent from US$40.3m in 2010. The company operates a 2.9Mta cement works in Chekka, about 56km north of Beirut with headquarters in Antelias.
Huaxin sales increase 30 per cent since Holcim investment, China
Holcim has said that its Holcim said that its joint venture Hubei Huaxin Cement has seen annual sales growth of 30 per cent since it invested in the company.??Holcim entered the Chinese market in 1995, a report by China Daily states. In 1999, the company made a strategic investment in Huaxin Cement, in Hubei province, and became the company's largest shareholder in 2008. Currently, Holcim ...
Jaiprakash in talks to sell one Indian cement unit
Jaiprakash Associates is in talks to sell one of its cement units to UltraTech Cement, Bloomberg reports. The company is seeking a valuation of about INR40bn for the division and the sale may help the company cut its debt. Jaiprakash Cement’s current debt stands at INR21,500 crore, while it has a market cap of INR14,500 crore. In a filing to exchanges in November the company said it is plann...
Siam considers Asean acquisitions
Siam Cement PCL is considering acquisitions in the Association of Southeast Asia Nations, with a focus on Vietnam and Indonesia, Chief Executive Kan Trakulhoon said Friday. Between the two countries in focus, Siam Cement is paying more attention to Indonesia given its large population and lower dependence on the export sector, Mr. Kan told reporters. He also said the euro zone's economic...
Latest UK construction new orders a 'worrying sign for housing'
The latest quarterly figures from the UK's Office of National Statistics (ONS) for construction new orders released Friday show that construction orders in 1Q12 were 3.6 per cent lower than the same quarter one year ago and new orders for housing were 21 per cent lower than a year earlier. However, there were some positive signs in some sectors. Commenting on the new orders data, Noble Fran...
HSBC: China monetary easing should help stimulate demand
HSBC says Anhui Conch Cement's 1H12 profit warning suggests declining profitability for cement producers in 2Q, but the ongoing monetary easing should help to stimulate demand and stabilise pricing in 2H12. Last week the Chinese cement producer said it expects 1H profit to fall by 50 per cent YoY on the back of weaker demand for cement. The company said consumption growth for cement has be...
Anhui Conch issues profit warning, China
Anhui Conch warned on Thursday that it expects net profit for the six months ending June to decrease "considerably" YoY because of weaker demand for cement. The company estimated the net-profit fall for the first half to be "more than 50%." The company said demand growth for cement has been declining since the beginning of 2012 and selling prices for cement products have dropped significa...
Deutsche Bank buys 20.54 mln shares in Shanshui Cement, China
Deutsche Bank AG acquired 20.54 million shares in China Shanshui Cement Group Ltd at HK$ 5.47/share and for a total of HK$112m on May 28th, sources reported, citing information released by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. After the purchase Deutsche Bank's stake in Shanshui Cement increased by 0.73% to 7.66%. (Source: China Business Newswire)
Italcementi/Siberia Cement dispute heads to Supreme Arbitration Court, Russia
Italcementi, one of the world's largest makers of cement, expects to see its dispute with Russian cement maker Siberian Cement over a EUR 50mn forfeited commitment fee to go before Russia's Supreme Arbitration Court. The Italian company may see its appeal denied one more time by the Russian court. Back in 2008, SibCement won an auction to buy Italcementi's cement assets in Turkey for USD 850m...