Displaying items by tag: Lagan

UK/Ireland: Breedon Group says that it has made ‘good progress’ across the business in the first quarter of 2019. Its revenue grew by 10% year-on-year to around Euro276m on a like-for-like basis. It attributed this to milder weather than in the same period in 2018. It said that it expects construction output in the UK to rise by 3% and at a higher rate in the Republic of Ireland.

UK: Breedon Group’s revenue grew by 32% year-on-year to Euro1bn in 2018 from Euro759m. Its profit rose by 13% to Euro75.2 from Euro66.3m. It sold 2Mt of cement and its ready-mixed concrete sales fell slightly to 3.2Mm³.

“We can be justifiably proud of our results. We outperformed the Great Britain market in sales volumes of all our key products, grew our revenues and underlying earning before interest and tax (EBIT), and once again generated strong cashflow, enabling us to pay down a material proportion of our post-Lagan debt by the year-end,” said executive chairman Peter Tom.

The building materials manufacturer said that the integration of Lagan Cement into the group enabled it to export cement from Kinnegad in Ireland to the UK. In early 2019 it intends to import cement from Kinnegad to a new terminal in Runcorn. Investments in the reporting year included an expansion of its transport fleet in the UK, a new mobile plant at its Hope quarry and the next stage of a four-year project to replace plant control systems at the Hope cement plant. Its single largest investment in 2019 will be the replacement of the raw mill drive at the Hope plant.

Breedon Group operates two cement plants, around 80 quarries, 40 asphalt plants, around 170 ready-mixed concrete and mortar plants, nine concrete and clay products plants, four contract surfacing businesses, six terminals and two slate production facilities. It employs nearly 3000 people and has nearly 900Mt of mineral reserves and resources.

Ireland/UK: Lagan Group’s bagged cement, brick and tile products have been rebranded within the Breedon Group. The Irish company was acquired by Breedon Group earlier in 2018. It manufactures a range of bagged cement, concrete roof tiles and clay facing bricks, which it supplies to builders’ merchants across the UK and Ireland. The newly branded range has widened the product range available through Breedon’s distributor network.

As James Cousins, regional director responsible for Breedon’s specialist building products, said, “It’s a very exciting time to be part of Breedon. We’ve spent the last few months getting to know our new colleagues, as well as the products and plants within the group, and the rebranding from Lagan to Breedon demonstrates our commitment to the market to move forward as a single brand, leveraging the strength of the enlarged group to offer our customers high quality products and the highest level of customer service.”

UK: Breedon Group has reported its first half results for 2018, which showed a 16% year-on-year increase in revenue to Euro419.3m and a 3% fall in profit before tax to Euro33.7m. The group completed the acquisition of Ireland-based Lagan Group during the period under review, as well as other companies in the UK.

Peter Tom CBE, Executive Chairman, commented, “This was one of the busiest periods in the Group’s history, with four acquisitions completed by 1 July 2018, including our first outside Great Britain, coupled with continued organic investment in a number of key projects. We had anticipated a challenging 2018 and so it proved in the first half, with testing trading conditions exacerbated by the severe weather in the first quarter and rising input costs throughout the period. Despite these headwinds, we delivered a resilient performance.”

“We continue to view the medium- to long-term outlook in Great Britain positively, with infrastructure spending forecast to increase steadily over the next three years and government strategies to address our chronic housing shortage expected to fuel continued growth in the residential sector. Market conditions in Ireland are expected to be even healthier, with construction output in the Republic forecast to grow by approximately 28% in the three years to 2020 and Northern Ireland expected to sustain construction output at approximately Euro3.33bn/yr from 2018 to 2022.”

Ireland/UK: Breedon Group has acquired Lagan Group for Euro527m. The deal will be financed from a new loan, extended credit and an equity placing. The purchase will see Breedon Group enter the Irish market as it takes control Lagan’s production assets including a cement plant in Kinnegad, nine active quarries, 13 asphalt plants and nine ready-mixed concrete plants. The deal will complete on 20 April 2018.

“Lagan represents a unique opportunity to enter a growing market with immediate scale and excellent opportunities for expansion. It significantly strengthens our cement offer, adds to our mineral and downstream resources, brings us a bitumen import/export business and adds real weight to our contract surfacing operations,” said Paul Ward, Breedon’s chief executive.

Following the acquisition of Lagan, Breedon Group will operate two cement plants, around 70 quarries, 40 asphalt plants, 200 ready-mixed concrete and mortar plants, nine concrete and clay products plants, four contract surfacing businesses, six terminals and two slate production facilities. The group will also employ nearly 3000 people. It says its strategy is to continue growing organically and through the acquisition of businesses in the heavyside construction materials market.

Ireland/UK: Breedon Aggregates is reportedly in talks to buy a part or all of Ireland’s Lagan Group, according to the Sunday Times newspaper. Breedon Aggregates and Lagan’s subsidiary Whitemountain operate an asphalt joint venture at present. However, Lagan Group did not respond to a request for comment on the talks.

Breedon Aggregates purchased Hope Construction Materials in 2016, which included the Hope cement plant. The acquisition boosted Breedon’s financial results in 2017 giving it a revenue of Euro523m and it described the year as the, “…most eventful year in the group’s history.”

Lagan Cement operates a 0.7Mt/yr plant in Kinnegad in Ireland. In late 2012 it proposed a joint venture with Quinn Building Products. However, the deal fell through in early 2013 following the receipt of a package containing a bullet which was sent in the post to the Lagan's chief executive, Kevin Lagan. The bullet, which was sent to Lagan at his Belfast office, was accompanied by a message stating, "Quinn ... is this what you want".

Ireland: Lagan Cement has chosen Ctrack Online, a vehicle tracking system, to manage its fleet. It will use the system to monitor a mixed fleet of 42 heavy goods vehicles, vans, forklift trucks and barges, improve productivity and analyse operational performance. In particular, the system will measure and analyse the performance of three barges that extract sand from Lough Neagh.

“Ctrack Online has already become an essential day-to-day tool that is helping us achieve lean operational practices, while meeting strict customer requirements and keeping them informed at all times,” said Paul Adamson, operations manager of Lagan Cement Products.

Ireland/UK: Lagan Cement and Quinn Building Products have dropped plans to form a joint venture (JV).

"Discussions have now concluded and both companies have decided not to progress further with the proposed joint venture," the companies said in a statement.

The two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding December 2012 to explore the possibility of a JV between their cement and building products businesses based in Ballyconnell, Derrylin, Kinnegad, Belfast, Cork and Benelux. At the time, Quinn Manufacturing Group chief executive Paul O'Brien and his opposite number, Jude Lagan, said that the idea was to create a 'sustainable' independent Irish cement producer.

The decision follows the receipt of a package containing a bullet which was sent in the post to the Lagan's chief executive, Kevin Lagan. The bullet, which was sent to Lagan at his Belfast office, was accompanied by a message stating, "Quinn ... is this what you want".

"This is clearly an attempt to intimidate myself and the Lagan Group at a time when we are engaged in discussions with Quinn on combining our cement and building products businesses," said Lagan in a statement released on 14 February 2013.

Ireland/UK: The Irish Times has reported that a rifle bullet was sent to the chief executive of the Ireland-based Lagan Group, Kevin Lagan, during the third week of January 2013 in what is thought to be a direct threat linked to Lagan's proposed merger with part of the Quinn Group, which is based in Northern Ireland in the UK.

The rifle bullet was contained within a cigar box, which had, 'Quinn...is this what you want?' written on it. It had apparently been sent from Northern Ireland.

Lagan said he was 'totally amazed' by the package. He said the group's proposed merger with Quinn Building Products posed no threat to jobs. "In fact it secures the future of both Quinn and ourselves going forward," he said. "This is clearly an attempt to intimidate myself and the Lagan Group at a time when we are engaged in discussions with Quinn on combining our cement and building products businesses."

Lagan said that the person or persons behind the 'crude intimidatory tactic' were obviously not interested in protecting jobs. "We will not be swayed from our determination to complete our discussions successfully," he added.

Seán Quinn lost control of the Quinn Group in April 2011 when a receiver was appointed by the former Anglo Irish Bank. There have since been a number of incidents believed to have been carried out by people angry about what has happened.

Ireland: Quinn Building Products and Lagan Cement Group have signed a memorandum of understanding that could lead to a joint venture (JV) between the two groups.

The businesses, which will become part of the proposed JV, are the combined cement and building products businesses based in Ballyconnell, Derrylin, Kinnegad, Belfast, Cork and Benelux. Quinn Therm, Quinn Litepac, Quinn Tarmac and Lagan Sand are not included in this proposal.

Commenting on the proposed JV, the CEO of Quinn Manufacturing Group, Paul O'Brien, and the CEO of Lagan Cement Group, Jude Lagan, said, "By combining two stable Irish businesses the proposed JV will create a sustainable independent cement manufacturer that can continue to support its customers on a competitive basis."

The joint venture discussions are likely to take up to three months to complete and will involve the development of a business plan to combine the Quinn/Lagan cement and building products operations.

"While it is the intention of both parties to conclude a JV Agreement, no certainty can be assumed prior to the completion of these discussions and the relevant Competition Authority approvals," said a joint statement.

In a separate development, Quinn Manufacturing has also announced a Euro15m investment to upgrade its Ballyconnell cement plant, which, when completed, will facilitate the use of alternative fuels. The plant will be adapted to use solid recovered fuel (SRF), a move that will help to bring Quinn Cement's cost of production more into line with its Irish and European competitors.