South Africa: Lafarge Africa has agreed to sell its full stake in Lafarge South Africa business to Caricement for US$317m. The deal is expected to complete in the third quarter of 2019 subject to regulatory approval. Proceeds from the transaction will be used to pay off Lafarge Africa’s shareholder loan of US$293m.
The subsidiary of Lafarge Holcim said that net sales fell by 2.6% year-on-year to US$218m in the first quarter of 2019 from US$224m in the same period in 2018. Its operating profit rose by 35% to US$23.4m from US$17.3m. Growth was driven by the Nigerian market and it described its cement volumes as ‘flat’ in South Africa. It also reported that its revenue rose by 3% year-on-year to US$855m in 2018 from US$829m in 2017. It reduced its loss to US$25.6m from US$43.7m.