30 November 2017
Lafarge Syria managers arrested in Paris 30 November 2017
Syria: Three managers of LafargeHolcim were arrested in Paris on 29 November 2017 over allegations that Lafarge Syria, now part of the group, paid money to the Islamic State group in Syria in 2013 and 2014. They included Bruno Pescheux and Frédéric Jolibois. Pescheux was in charge of Lafarge Syria’s plant from 2008 until 2014. Jolibois took over in 2014 for a short while before the plant was abandoned. A third detainee was not named. Investigators are seeking to determine whether executives at Lafarge in Paris knew that payments were being made in Syria to insurgent groups.
LafargeHolcim has not commented on the arrests but has previously admitted ‘errors’ in its handling of events in Syria. It denies criminal wrongdoing and said that it had ‘put everything in place to ensure that this situation cannot be reproduced.’
A preliminary inquiry opened in France earlier in 2017 amid claims that Lafarge Syria had paid insurgent groups to keep roads clear around its plant in Jalabiya after the outbreak of war in Syria. In 2013, Islamic State representatives reportedly summoned two company managers in Syria to demand a cut of operations. They reportedly threatened to stop supplies to the plant and deliveries from it if they did not receive the money. The business is alleged to have paid Islamic State about Euro20,000/month, which represented 10% of the Euro5m that had reportedly been paid to a variety of armed groups.
Authority sets out terms for Italcementi’s Cementir purchase 30 November 2017
Italy: The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has approved the purchase of Cementir Italia by HeidelbergCement’s subsidiary Italcementi, subject to the sale of certain assets. They are: The Cagnano Aminterno (L'Aquila) cement plant and the terminal at Reggio Calabria, currently owned by Cementir; the Maddaloni (Caserta) plant, currently owned by Cementir; the production facility at Spoleto,, currently owned by Cementir, and the production plant at Salerno, currently owned by Italcementi.
The ICA says that the sales are necessary to prevent excessive concentration in the sector.
CMS profit increases in third quarter 30 November 2017
Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak’s (CMS) pre-tax profit rose to US$23.4m for the third quarter of 2017 from US$23.1m in the same quarter of 2016. The group said the better profit before tax was attributable to the cement division’s lower production costs. Its revenue, however, declined to US$85.0m from US$87.0m a year earlier. CMS said that the cement division’s clinker and cement operations’ combined profit before tax for the third quarter was 2% ahead of the corresponding quarter of 2016.
The company said that the operating environment was expected to remain challenging and the group’s healthy financial position would help weather the challenging environment. “We remain focused on growing our portfolio of businesses by taking advantage of the business opportunities in Sarawak,” said the company in a statement. “Our strong fundamentals and resilience will enable us to perform and to deliver a satisfactory financial performance for 2017. Coupled with other measures that the management is taking, we are positioning for long-term sustainable revenue and profitability growth.”
Melon struggling against Chilean headwinds 30 November 2017
Chile: Cementos Melon has recorded a 56.8% drop in its profit to US$7.8m in the three quarters to 30 September 2017. The company said that a drop in sales had been partly mitigated by greater focus on margins and operational efficiency gains. Its revenue fell by 13.6% to US$210m.