Displaying items by tag: Finance

India: Century Textiles & Industries plans to raise US$48.3m by issue of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on a private placement basis. Accord Fintech News has reported that the NCDs will be listed, rated, unsecured and redeemable.

India: Ambuja Cements has placed orders with equipment suppliers for an 8Mt/yr clinker capacity expansion across two of its cement plants. The plants in question are the 2.9Mt/yr Bhatapara cement plant in Chhattisgarh and the 4.5Mt/yr Maratha cement plant in Maharashtra. Ambuja Cements will also build 42MW-worth of waste heat recovery (WHR) power capacity. The new cement capacity will be able to operate on renewable energy and use 50% alternative fuel (AF). As such, upon completion of the project, the plants will together produce 14Mt/yr of Ambuja Cements' reduced-CO₂ Blended Green Cement. The producer will fund the work through internal accruals, and expects to complete it in May 2025.

CEO Ajay Kapur said "These brownfield expansion projects are part of our strategy to double our production capacity over the next five years from the current capacity of 67.5Mt/yr. Our ongoing investments in capacity expansion and sustainability will enable us to achieve our long-term objectives, as we remain committed to delivering sustainable growth and value to our stakeholders."

Argentina: Loma Negra recorded sales of US$197m during the first quarter of 2023, up by 2.9% year-on-year from first-quarter 2022 levels. The company's earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 5.8% year-on-year to US$63m. Its net profit fell by 19% year-on-year to US$22.9m. Throughout the quarter under review, Loma Negra sold 1.54Mt of cement, up by 4.3% year-on-year.

Chief execuive officer Sergio Faifman said “We started the year in a very good shape, with solid operating result and cash flow generation, together with a very robust financial position. Despite the challenging macro scenario and the economic disorder in Argentina, cement demand remains strong, posting 3.1% growth in spite of the high base of comparison, and Loma Negra showed even higher growth figures." Faifman continued "We also completed our first issuance of corporate bonds with high success and with great support from the market, which demonstrates the confidence that investors place in our company. This gave us the possibility of refinancing our short-term debt in Argentinian Pesos and further strengthening our balance sheet. For the remainder of the year, we are cautiously optimistic that we will continue to see healthy dynamics in our markets, although at slower rates as we approach the presidential elections.”

Nigeria: Dangote Cement recorded sales of US$609m during the first quarter of 2023, down by 13% year-on-year from US$699m during the first quarter of 2022. The producer reported a 25% decline in its cement sales volumes to 3.6Mt from 4.8Mt. Operating costs rose by 6% to US$355m from US$335m. Dangote Cement said that its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 14% to US$458m from US$403m.

Dangote Cement chief executive officer Arvind Pathak said “The cash crunch coupled with the uncertainty around the general elections led to a slowdown in key private and public infrastructure investments in Nigeria. Consequently, our domestic operations recorded a drop in volume." Pathak continued “In fulfilling our commitment to creating additional value for our shareholders, we have received regulatory approval for our second buyback programme. We will continue to monitor the evolving business environment and market conditions in making decisions on tranches."

India: Adani Group has reportedly prepaid US$200m-worth of a US$1bn mezzanine loan for its acquisition of Holcim's Indian business in mid-2022. The loan will be due for repayment in September 2024. Bloomberg has reported that the conglomerate hopes that the part prepayment will help it to secure a three-year extension to repayment.

India: Adani Group says that it will raise funds for its 2028 capacity expansion plan through internal accruals. The producer plans to double its cement capacity to 140Mt/yr by 2028, and also double its sales to US$8.5bn that year. The Financial Express newspaper has reported that the group says its internal accruals will be 'sufficient' to realise its aims. The group is reportedly 'on track' to commence the first phase of the planned expansion in early-mid-2023. It has also set out a cost reduction roadmap with a view to becoming India's most profitable cement company.

Chair Gautam Adani says that he anticipates a 'multi-fold rise' in all-Indian cement consumption due to forecast high economic growth and the government's infrastructure spending plans.

China: Xinjiang Tianshan Cement has secured board approval for an issue of commercial paper. Reuters has reported the total value of the paper as US$2.19bn.

Finland: VTT Technical Research Centre subsidiary Carbonaide has concluded its seed funding round, having raised funds worth Euro1.8m. Lakan Betoni, which produces precast and ready-mix concrete, led the funding, along with utilities provider Vantaa Energy. Carbonaide will use the funds to build an industrial pilot plant for its carbon neutral precast concrete product at an existing precast concrete plant in Hollola. The plant will bind captured CO₂ in the product at atmospheric pressure. The process generates 50% lower CO₂ emissions than precast concrete production using ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Suitable raw materials include ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS), green liquor dregs and bio-ash. In trial production, the use of GGBFS gave Carbonaide's concrete a negative carbon footprint of -60kg/m³.

Other sources of loans and in-kind contributions included Finnish state innovation fund Business Finland.

India: Adani Group is rumoured to have entered negotiations to extend the repayment duration of its US$4bn loan for the acquisition of Holcim's Indian business. The group secured the funds in August 2022. The Economic Times newspaper has reported that the group is seeking to extend the duration of its repayments from 18 months to at least five years. It is reportedly also seeking a similar extension for a parallel US$1bn mezzanine loan tranche.

Adani Group described the rumour as 'incorrect.'

India: JK Cement plans to issue US$12.2m-worth of bonds with a five-year maturity. Reuters has reported that the producer will receive bids from 20 March 2023.