Displaying items by tag: Switzerland

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim’s net sales rose by 2.7% year-on-year to Euro18.bn in the first nine months of 2018 from Euro17.7bn in the same period in 2017. Sales volumes of cement rose by 1% to 165Mt from 164Mt. Its recurring earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 0.1% to Euro3.83bn.

“Despite headwinds from steep cost inflation, we delivered stronger net sales and our earnings grew even faster. I am very satisfied with our growth in volumes, our solid pricing and the impact of our cost and efficiency programs,” said chief executive officer (CEO) Jan Jenisch.

By region the group reported net sales and cement sales volume increases in most regions with particular growth in Europe and North America. However, cement sales volumes fell in Asia Pacific and net sales fell in Latin America. Net sales also fell particularly, by 9.2% to Euro2.03bn, in Middle East Africa.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim’s first half profit fell by 43% from Euro561.8m in 2017 to Euro320.3m in 2018. Sales rose by 2.7% to Euro11.45bn. Under new CEO Jan Jenisch, who took over in September 2017, the company has been slashing costs, announcing earlier in 2018 that it will close its head offices in Zurich and Paris and shed around 200 jobs as it aims to save Euro345.2m/yr by the end of first quarter of 2019.

Jenisch said he was pleased with the sales growth, particularly the acceleration during the second quarter, when sales increased by 5%, up from a 2.7% rate in the first three months of the year.

"Operational issues in some markets have been addressed and we expect to deliver increasing margins as we capture the upward trend in demand through the second half of 2018," said Janisch. "We had a couple of plants where I was not happy that the output was not in line with market demand. We have made sure we can maximise their output in the second half."

Sales were supported by strong growth in India, one of the company's largest markets, where its subsidiary Ambuja Cement posted a 27% increase in profit during the second quarter. However, losses in Africa weighed heavily on the firm, with the regional unit reporting a loss after being hit by higher finance charges and losses from its South African business.

Jenisch said that the Africa and Middle East region will remain tough, while adding that the company would press ahead with its disposal programme. It aims to raise about US$1.73m from selling cement plants."We are on track here. We have done our portfolio review and will hopefully announce something later this year," said Jenisch. "However, there is nothing I can talk about at this time."

Switzerland: Cement deliveries grew by 3% year-on-year to 1.22Mt in the second quarter of 2018 from 1.19Mt in the same period in 2017. Deliveries for the first half of the year grew slightly to 2.06Mt according to the CemSuisse.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim has appointed Miljan Gutovic as the Head of Region Middle East Africa and a member of its executive committee of LafargeHolcim. He succeeds Saâd Sebbar, who has left the company.

Gutovic, aged 39 years, is an Australian national with over 13 years of experience in the building materials sector. He joined LafargeHolcim in 2018 as head of marketing and Innovation after working for Sika. At Sika he worked as an Area Manager for the Middle East as well as General Manager for Australia. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering and a PhD in Engineering from the University of Technology in Sydney.

Switzerland: 2016 data published by the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) from its Getting the Numbers Right (GNR) report shows no change in CO₂ emissions in recent years. Gross specific CO₂ emissions from cementitious products rose slightly from 2014 and net specific emissions have remained the same. However, the data shows considerable improvement since a baseline in 1990 with both metrics falling by over 15%.

Other notable figures from the latest report include an 11% year-on-year drop in clinker volumes to 606Mt in 2016 from 680Mt in 2015 and a 12% fall in cementitious volumes to 818Mt from 916Mt. Kiln fuel use, specific electricity use and the percentage of clinker in cement all rose slightly. However, the percentage of alternative fuels used increased to 16.7% from 15.9%.

The GNR report presents information on energy efficiency and CO₂ emissions from the worldwide cement industry. Participants use the CSI CO₂ and Energy Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Cement Industry to provide information and 80% of the data provided is independently assured. The report uses information from 849 cement manufacturing plants around the world, both integrated and cement grinding units, representing 19% of global cement production.

LafargeHolcim’s announcement this week that it is to close its headquarters in Paris is the latest sign of the tension within the world’s largest cement producer. The decision is rational for a company making savings in the aftermath of the merger of two rivals – France’s Lafarge and Switzerland’s Holcim – back in 2015. Yet, it also carries symbolic weight. Lafarge was an iconic French company that had been in operation since 1833. Its hydrated lime was used to build the Suez Canal, one of the great infrastructure projects of the 19th century.

In the lead up to the merger in 2015 the union of Lafarge and Holcim was repeatedly described as one of equals. However, the diverging share price between the two companies killed that idea on the balance sheets in early 2015. Renegotiation on the share-swap ratio between the companies followed with an exchange ratio of nine Holcim shares for 10 Lafarge shares. In the end Holcim’s shareholders ended up owning 55.6% of LafargeHolcim. Lafarge’s Bruno Lafont lost out on the top job as chief executive officer (CEO) in the frenzy but the role did go to another former Lafarge executive. The new company also retained its former corporate offices in both France and Switzerland.

Since the merger LafargeHolcim has underperformed, reporting a loss of Euro1.46bn in 2017. Former senior executives from Lafarge have become embroiled in a legal investigation looking at the company’s conduct in Syria. LafargeHolcim’s first chief executive officer Eric Olsen resigned from the company in mid-2017 following fallout from a review into the Syria affair. Both Olsen and Lafont are currently under investigation by the French police into their actions with respect to a cement plant that the company kept operational during the on-going Syrian conflict. Olsen’s replacement, Jan Jenisch, is a German national who previously ran the Swiss building chemicals manufacturer Sika.

Regrettably the closure of LafargeHolcim’s corporate office in Paris will also see the loss of 97 jobs although some of the workers in Paris will be transferred to Clamart, in the south-western suburbs of the city. Another 107 jobs will also be cut in Zurich and Holderbank in Switzerland.

One more knock at the local nature of cement companies in the very international arena they operate in doesn’t mean that much beyond bruised national pride. British readers may mourn the loss of Blue Circle or Rugby Cement but the country still has a cement industry even if it mostly owned by foreign companies. France’s industry is doing better as it recovers following the lost decade since the financial crisis in 2008.

Jump to 2018 and LafargeHolcim is being run by a German with links to Switzerland, Holcim shareholders had the advantage during the merger, its former Lafarge executives and assets are facing legal scrutiny over its conduct in Syria and Lafarge’s old headquarters in Paris are being closed. LafargeHolcim in France still retains the group’s research and development centre at Lyon and a big chunk of the local industry. Yet Holcim has held an advantage ever since the final terms of the Lafarge-Holcim merger agreement were agreed so this slow slide to Switzerland is not really a surprise. From a distance it feels very much like the Holcim acquisition of Lafarge is finally complete.

France/Switzerland: LafargeHolcim plans to close its headquarters in Paris. The decision to move the company’s head office solely to Switzerland follows a cost cutting review at the building materials company. It will also close its corporate office in Zurich. Remaining jobs in Switzerland will be moved to the company’s Holderbank site and a new corporate office in Zug. In Paris, remaining positions will be moved to Clamart. The plan is expected to be completed by the end of 2018. Around 200 jobs will be affected.

“This painful but necessary simplification step is key to creating a leaner, faster and more competitive LafargeHolcim,” said chief executive officer Jan Jenisch. The move follows decisions to close offices in Singapore and Miami.

The decision to close its headquarters in Paris marks a further move away from the ‘merger of equals’ announced when France’s Lafarge merged with Switzerland’s Holcim in 2015. Since the merger LafargeHolcim has underperformed reporting a loss of Euro1.46bn in 2017. Former senior executives from Lafarge have become embroiled in a legal investigation looking at the company’s conduct in Syria. LafargeHolcim’s first chief executive officer Eric Olsen resigned from the company in mid-2017 following fallout from a review into the Syria affair.

Italy/Switzerland/Turkey: Turboden has released information on its latest waste heat recovery (WHR) projects using its ORC turbogenerator for cement plants in Turkey, Switzerland and Italy.

In Turkey CTP Team and CTN Group have signed an order with Turboden for the supply of a 7MW ORC WHR unit with air cooled condenser to be installed in Çimko Çemento Narli’s plant. Turboden says that since the plant is located in an area where there is no water available for the cooling system, the ORC technology offer advantages over steam technology.

In Switzerland CadCime SA and LafargeHolcim have ordered a 1.3MW WHR unit that recovers heat from the existing pressurised water circuit, used for the district heating network. The order is the third from LafargeHolcim for an ORC unit from Turboden.

In Italy a 2MW WHR plant with direct heat exchange is being installed at Cementi Rossi’s plant. Start-up is schedule for the second quarter of 2018. This project received an award from the European Commission under the framework of Horizon 2020, whose main objective is to develop new solutions to recover waste heat in energy intensive industries such as cement, glass, steelmaking and petrochemical and transform it into electric energy.

Switzerland/Uganda: LafargeHolcim has been criticised by two Swiss non-governmental groups (NGO) over alleged child labour issues in Uganda. The Protestant Church group Bread For All the Catholic Lenten Fund have accused the multinational of delaying compensation to alleged child labour victims, according to the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. LafargeHolcim has denied the accusations. The NGOs have published video statements by children testifying that they previously worked for suppliers to Hima Cement, a local subsidiary of LafargeHolcim.

A report published in 2016 claimed that around 150 Ugandan children had worked for 10 years in quarries that supplied Hima Cement with pozzolana. Both Hima Cement and its parent company denied the claims. Later, Hima Cement subsequently announced that it would stop buying raw materials from small-scale miners and only source them from mechanised quarries that employ adults. At the same time LafargeHolcim commissioned an investigation that concluded that there was no evidence that children had worked for Hima Cement or for any of its other suppliers.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim has blamed falling earnings in the first quarter of 2018 on poor weather in North America and Europe. Its recurring earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 7.7% on a like-for-like basis year-on-year to Euro587m from Euro678m in the same period in 2017. Its net sales rose by 3.1% to Euro4.89bn and its cement sales volumes rose by 3.2% to 47.7Mt on a like-for-like basis.

By region cement sales volumes fell on a like-for-like basis in Europe, Middle East Africa and North America. LafargeHolcim said that cement volumes were down slightly in its Middle East Africa region due to a mixed outlook in the region with ‘challenging’ conditions in key markets. In Asia Pacific it said that China and India drove its growth in sales and profits but that there was continued pressure in South East Asia.

“Though the quarter was affected by several headwinds, we expect the strength of our portfolio and the benefits of our new strategy to become increasingly visible over the full year. That makes us confident we will deliver on our 2018 targets,” said Jan Jenisch, Group Chief Executive Officer of LafargeHolcim. He added that the group was conducting its Strategy 2022 reorganisation plan.