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Displaying items by tag: Australia
Australia: Adelaide Brighton is reportedly considering buying the cement business of Barro Group for around US$387m. Barro Group is a major stockholder in Adelaide Brighton that recently increased its stake to 40%, according to the Australian newspaper. The increase in its stake has generated speculation about the relationship between the two companies.
Barro Group operates Independent Cement and Lime (ICL), a joint venture with Adelaide Brighton and Barro. ICL is a specialist supplier of cement and cement blended products throughout Victoria and New South Whales and is also the exclusive distributor of cement for Adelaide Brighton.
Adelaide Brighton’s sales up on improved markets in Australia
28 February 2018Australia: Adelaide Brighton’s revenue rose by 11.7% to US$1.22bn in 2017 from US$1.09bn. The building materials producer said that the boost, although aided by acquisitions in 2017, was due to ‘strong’ demand in east coast markets, improving demand in South Australia and stabilising demand in Western Australia. However, its net profit after tax fell by 2.2% to US$142m from US$145m. It blamed this on one off provisions, acquisition costs and restructuring expenses.
For its cement business, the company said that cement and clinker sales volume rose by 9% in 2017, assisted by a ‘particularly’ strong second half. Strong volume growth continued in 2017 in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales.
Sales volumes in Western Australia and Northern Territory declined in the first half but stabilised in the second half to be modestly lower for the year. Cement sales in South Australia improved, supported by the ramp-up of major infrastructure projects in the second half.
The cement producer also reported that in April 2017 its Birkenhead plant experienced a temporary issue with the quality of cement that incurred rectification costs of US$2.8m during the first half of the year. The quality issue arose due to lower grade feed making its way into the cement milling process. Fixes to inventory management and quality processes were made to address the issue and production and quality returned to normal shortly after the incident.
Beyond Zero Emissions and the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia to encourage use of low carbon cements
28 February 2018Australia: Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE) and the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA) are working together to encourage the use of low carbon cements in infrastructure projects. This follows ISCA’s Infrastructure Sustainability (IS) rating scheme and the release of the BZE Rethinking Cement report that presents a roadmap on how Australia could develop the world’s first zero carbon cement industry.
ISCA’s Infrastructure Sustainability Rating scheme will introduce two new incentives aligned with BZE’s approach: a new Innovation Challenge will encourage greater use of low-carbon content within Portland cement; and an updated Infrastructure Sustainability Materials Calculator for ISv2.0 will award points for the use of geopolymers. ISCA already rewards projects for replacing a proportion of Portland cement clinker with alternatives such as fly ash. Their analysis indicates that IS rated projects have achieved an average of 21 - 25% Portland replacement.
New appointments at Adelaide Brighton
14 February 2018Australia: Adelaide Brighton has announced the appointment of Vanessa Guthrie and Geoff Tarrant to the Adelaide Brighton Board as non-executive Directors, effective 8 February 2018. Company Chairman Les Hosking said that the appointments of Dr Guthrie and Mr Tarrant were part of Adelaide Brighton's Board renewal process.
Dr Guthrie has qualifications in geology, environment, law and business management, including a Doctor of Philosophy in Geology. She has more than 30 years' experience in the mining and resources industry across a variety of roles including operations, environment, community, indigenous affairs, corporate development and sustainability. She was previously CEO and Managing Director of Toro Energy Limited and Vice President Sustainable Development at Woodside Energy. Dr Guthrie is currently Chair of the Minerals Council of Australia and a non-executive Director of Santos Limited, Vimy Resources Limited and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Mr Tarrant has a Bachelor of Business and is a finance executive with over 25 years' experience gained in Australia, the UK and Asia. He is currently engaged in a corporate finance consultancy role with Deutsche Bank, where he has held a number of senior roles since 2002, primarily in mergers and acquisitions and capital markets. Prior to this he held finance roles with Citigroup, National Australia Bank and Price Waterhouse.
Australia: Boral Ltd has announced that its profit for the first half of the 2017-2018 fiscal year (from 1 July 2017 – 31 December 2017) rose by 13%. The company benefited from the 2017 acquisition of the US-based building products firm Headwaters Inc. and continued growth in its Australian business.
It reported a net profit of US$136.0m for the six month period, a rise of 12.7% compared to the same period of the 2016 – 2017 fiscal year when it made US$120.7m. Its profit before amortisation and significant items increased by 58% to US$$186.5m.
"These strong results confirm that our transformation strategy is on track," said Chief Executive Mike Kane. "The Headwaters acquisition has helped transform Boral into a construction materials and building products group with a greater geographic reach and improved prospects for growth."
Boral’s US business, which was only breaking even in 2015 – 2016, recorded a fourfold rise in earnings, despite adverse impacts from bad weather, including two hurricanes.
Kane also said Boral’s Australian arm, its largest divison, was ‘exceptionally strong’ during the half. Boral reported a 12% rise in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation from that business.
"Higher revenues and earnings were driven by increased spending on infrastructure, in line with our expectations that a large proportion of our work would gradually shift from residential to infrastructure projects, primarily in the eastern states," said Kane.
Adelaide Brighton signs gas and electricity deals
05 December 2017Australia: Adelaide Brighton has signed new gas and electricity contracts in South Australia. It has entered into an agreement with Beach Energy for the supply of gas to its South Australian operations. It has also entered into an agreement with Infigen Energy for the supply of its electricity requirements to the Birkenhead and Angaston cement plants and Klein Point Quarry on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. The new agreements are intended to manage the company’s energy requirements and costs following a series of blackouts in the region.
The cement producer said that its energy strategy includes: a portfolio approach to energy supply and procurement benefits; consumption management and operational efficiency; the aim of obtaining 30% of energy supply from alternative fuels in the medium term; use of alternative cementitious materials in place of more energy intensive products; cost recovery through vertical integration and long term customer relationships; and financial strategies.
Adelaide Brighton to use green power
28 November 2017Australia: Adelaide Brighton will power some of its facilities with electricity from a 278.5MW wind farm owned by Infigen Energy, according to the Australian Financial Review. Adelaide Brighton will use the electricity to supply two of its cement plants near Adelaide, South Australia, and a quarry on Yorke Peninsula.
The two companies have signed a contract that calls for the cement manufacturer to buy power from the Lake Bonney wind farm for a five-year term. Specific terms of the deal have not been provided, while the contracted amount is said to be more than the 88GWh that were contracted in a bulk power purchase agreement (PPA) deal for a wind project in Melbourne earlier in November 2017.
Wagners’ initial public offering threatened by rival cement grinding plant in Brisbane
14 November 2017Australia: An initial public offering by Wagners has been threatened from plans by a rival company to build a cement grinding plant and terminal in Brisbane, Queensland. Wagners operates its own 0.8Mt/yr grinding plant in the city and commentators mentioned by The Australian newspaper have speculated that this increased competition locally could damage its aspirations. However, Wagners believes that the new plant is unlikely to be built. The 0.2Mt/yr project from brick and tile maker Brickworks, in a consortium with Newman Quarrying and the Neilsen Group, remains in the planning stage.
Adelaide Brighton investigates deliberate underpayments
13 November 2017Australia: Adelaide Brighton is investigating a series of transactions to a small number of customers who may have underpaid for the products supplied to them. The cement producer says it is investigating the situation ‘fully’ with the aid of the forensic accountants KPMG. It added that it is possible that an employee of the company is involved.
The company believes, that, based on the evidence so far, it appears that there may have been deliberately hidden underpayments by customers over a sustained period. This may have a negative impact on the company’s 2017 earning before interest and taxation (EBIT), currently estimated to be up to US$11m, less the impact of any recoveries that may be made. Adelaide Brighton has reported the situation to its auditors and will co-operate with relevant authorities as the investigation proceeds.
Australia: Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) has approved an application from Boral Cement to build a new 1.3Mt/yr cement grinding plant at Geelong in Melbourne, Victoria. The works will include an enclosed ball mill and covered store, covered belt conveyors, outdoor product stockpiles and several finished product storage and distribution silos at the site. Clinker will be unloaded from ships and delivered to the site via covered belt conveyors from Lascelles Wharf. The facility will operate 24-hours per day.
The EPA added that Boral Cement undertook community consultation prior to the submission of the application and during the public submission period.