Cement News tagged under: Kenya
Kenya: East African Portland Cement to lay off two-thirds of workforce18 November 2016, Published under Cement NewsIn a restructuring plan unveiled this week, East African Portland Cement (EAPC) has said it will lay off more than 1000 of its more than 1500 workers, reducing the firm’s headcount to just 500, the Daily Nation reports. “We are overly overstaffed with our employee numbers at over 1500 and close to 2000. By benchmarking with the rest of the industry we need only 500,” said Bill Lay, EAPC’s chairman. The company, which made an operational loss of KES1.6bn (US$15.7m) in the last financial... |
Kenya: Bamburi Cement and Geocycle form partnership16 November 2016, Published under Cement NewsBamburi Cement (LafargeHolcim Group) and a global waste management firm have signed an agreement for alternative fuels. Geocycle will help Bamburi Cement that will see the firm's Kenyan subsidiary Geocycle Kenya incinerate waste in Bamburi's kilns. Bamburi Chief Executive Officer, Bruno Pescheux, described the partnership as timely considering that Geocycle's waste management solution leaves no residue after disposal. This also makes Geocycle Kenya the only waste managing firm in the co... |
Kenya: EAPCC profits down 42%14 November 2016, Published under Cement NewsEast African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) reported a 42 per cent drop in full-year net profit as a result of increased operating costs. Financial statements recently published show the company’s net profit fell from KES7.15bn (US$70.3m) in the 12 months ending June 2015 to KES4.14bn in the year ended June 2016. This drop in net profit has been largely attributed to an increase in operational losses, which climbed to KES1.58bn from KES557.5m. The company issued a profit warning in Fe... |
Kenya: East Africa Portland Cement sees 2015 profits fall 42%11 November 2016, Published under Cement NewsEast Africa Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has announced that its profits for the financial year ending in June 2016 were KES4.2bn (US$41m), having fallen by 42.1 per cent in comparison to the previous year. According to reports in the Nation newspaper, EAPCC’s revenues rose by 5.4 per cent to KES8.9bn, but higher expenses – including financing costs that were up by 67.3 per cent – and increased cost of sales wiped out those gains. The Nation reports that EAPCC has recommended against... |
Kenya: CDC completes purchase of 40% stake in ARM Cement05 October 2016, Published under Cement NewsARM Cement has completed the sale of 40 per cent of its shares to CDC Group, a UK-owned development corporation, for KES14.1bn (US$139m), Capital Business reports. The investment will strengthen ARM’s financial structure and enable the company develop to meet the growing demand for sustainably produced cement across sub-Saharan Africa. In the short-term, CDC will support the company’s plans to expand cement production in Mwingi in central Kenya, helping to bring down the cost of cement to... |
Dangote27 September 2016, Published under Cement NewsDespite a 15 per cent increase in sales in Nigeria in July and August this year, Dangote Cement has been forced to increase its cement prices in the country due to escalating costs. Disruptions to the domestic gas supply have resulted in the producer increasingly turning to LPFO and coal to power its plants, despite these fuels being up to three times more expensive than gas. The naira has also experienced a significant devaluation against the US dollar, further increasing costs. “The pr... |
Kenya: CDC Group appoints two directors to ARM's board of directors23 September 2016, Published under Cement NewsUK’s sovereign wealth fund CDC Group has appointed two directors to the board of Kenyan cement manufacturer ARM Cement Ltd in which it recently acquired a 40.6 per cent stake for KES14.1bn (US$139.4m). The fund appointed Pepe Meijer and Ketso Gordhan to the board of the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed company. Investment banker John Ngumi was also simultaneously appointed as an independent director of the firm. The new directors will help drive the company’s strategy at a time when ... |
Kenya: East African Portland Cement MD refused to reinstate sacked staff19 September 2016, Published under Cement NewsSimon Peter ole Nkeri, managing director of East Portland Cement Co, is being sued for contempt of court by five former employees of the company, report the Star (Kenya). The MD refused to reinstate the five workers that a court had said were unlawfully dismissed. Five months ago, Justice Hellen Wasilwa had directed that Benjamin Nduati, Ibrahim Mugo, Evans Abuga, Desmond Owiyo and Felix Vunga be given back their jobs. She said that they were dismissed unfairly, for lack of adequate ... |
Kenyan cement firms feel the squeeze16 September 2016, Published under Cement NewsThis week the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics announced that KES2.2bn (US$21.7m) of cement was imported from China in the 1H16 - a 10-fold YoY increase. While full-year domestic cement consumption is forecast at 6Mta and installed production capacity is at 8Mta, cement imports appear surplus to the building sector’s needs. Although Chinese construction companies claim to source their building materials locally, their impact on local production is becoming increasingly clear. Lafarge ... |
Kenya: ARM will look to improve margins13 September 2016, Published under Cement NewsARM Cement posted a pretax loss of KES473.5m (US$4.5 m) in the first six months, which the firm attributed to unrealised foreign exchange losses associated with borrowing for its new clinker plant. Managing Director, Pradeep Paunrana, told Reuters that the new 1.2Mta clinker plant has only been operating at about 75 per cent capacity since production began in April. "What this essentially means is that our production cost has come down drastically because imported clinker is much more expen... |