Displaying items by tag: Switzerland

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim’s net sales grew by 2.2% year-on-year to Euro5.28bn in the first quarter of 2019 from Euro5.17bn in the same period in 2018. Its recurring earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 15.55 to Euro717m from Euro620m. Its cement sales volumes remained stable at 50Mt and sales volumes of ready-mix concrete increased by 2.1% to 11.1Mm³.

“We had a very strong start of the year and I am especially pleased to see our strong sales growth and an over-proportional increase in profitability. Our momentum is very positive and the Q1 2019 is the third consecutive quarter with recurring EBITDA growing faster than net sales,” said chief executive officer (CEO) Jan Jenisch. He added that the group’s decision to sell its Southeast Asian operations was, “executed with very attractive valuations, allowing us to achieve a new level of financial strength.”

By region the group performed poorly in Asia Pacific, Middle East Africa and Latin America, with falling net sales. Earnings also fell in Middle East Africa. However, significant sales increases in Europe and North America more than compensated for this.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim reduced its net CO₂ emissions per tonne of cementitious material by 1% year-on-year to 576kg CO₂/t in 2018 from 582kg CO₂/t in 2017. It said that the improvement was achieved by reducing the clinker-to-cement ratio and consuming less energy per tonne of cement, mostly by using alternative fuels and improving the efficiency of the company’s processes. However, data from its Sustainability Report 2018 shows that both its overall gross and net emissions grew. Its net CO₂ emissions from cementitious material increased by 2.5% to 121Mt. At the same time its clinker production rose by 2.7% to 151Mt from 147Mt.

The group increased its treatment of waste-derived resources to 52Mt. its alternative raw material substitute rate grew to 11.2% from 10.7%. It established a new pre-processing facility in Madukkarai in India and upgraded its waste handling capacities in Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, India, Canada, Spain and Germany. It also reduced its freshwater withdrawal for cement production and improved its lost time injury rates.

Malaysia/Singapore: Switzerland’s LafargeHolcim has signed a deal to sell its 51% stake in Lafarge Malaysia to YTL Cement for US$396m. Lafarge Malaysia operates three integrated cement and two grinding plants. With the divestment, LafargeHolcim will fully exit the Malaysian market. LafargeHolcim has also signed an agreement with YTL Cement Singapore for the divestment of its entire 91% share in Holcim Singapore.

YTL Cement is part of YTL Corporation, a Malaysian infrastructure conglomerate, which is active in cement production, construction, property development and utilities. The deal is expected to be completed within the second quarter of 2019. It is subject to approval by regulatory bodies.

Switzerland: The Board of Directors of LafargeHolcim will propose that its shareholders approve the appointment of three new Members of the Board, after acknowledgement of the departure of two current Board members, at the Annual General Meeting on 15 May 2019.

The Board of Directors will nominate Colin Hall, Naina Lal Kidwai and Claudia Sender Ramirez for election as new Board Members. Nassef Sawiris and Gérard Lamarche have decided not to stand for re-election.

As the Head of Investments of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, a major shareholder of LafargeHolcim, Colin Hall will add extensive experience in international finance to the Board. As one of India's most successful businesswomen, Naina Lal Kidwai held a number of senior leadership positions at ANZ Grindleys Bank and HSBC in India and Asia Pacific. She has a particular interest in environmental topics. Claudia Sender Ramirez will bring to the Board her wide-ranging marketing and emerging market experience from leadership positions at LATAM Airlines Group and Whirlpool in Latin America.

Beat Hess, Chairman of the Board of Directors at LafargeHolcim, said, "On behalf of the entire Board I would like to thank Nassef Sawiris and Gérard Lamarche for their important contribution to the success of our company over the past years. I am very delighted that we are proposing three new members whose unique experience will complement the expertise of our existing Board members. It is a particular pleasure for me that with the new nominations we will be able to further increase the geographical and gender diversity of our Board."

All other current members of the Board of Directors will be proposed for re-election at the Annual General Meeting: Beat Hess (Chairman), Oscar Fanjul (Vice-Chairman), Paul Desmarais, Jr., Patrick Kron, Adrian Loader, Jürg Oleas, Hanne Birgitte Breinbjerg Sørensen and Dieter Spälti.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim made a return to a net profit in 2018 as its ongoing cost-cutting program began to take effect. It reported a net profit of Euro1.32bn. Sales rose to Euro24.2bn from Euro23.78bn. In the fourth quarter of 2018 LafargeHolcim said that its recurring earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (REBITDA) edged up to Euro1.47bn from Euro1.43bn.

The company confirmed its outlook from November 2018, in which it said it expected sales growth within the 3-5% range on a like-for-like basis for 2019. It also expects to lift its REBITDA by at least 5%.

Chief Executive Jan Jenisch has been cutting costs and simplifying LafargeHolcim since he took over as CEO in 2017. He said the company's performance had improved during the second half of 2018, adding that he was expecting an acceleration of sales growth and earnings in 2019.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim is considering options, including divestments, for its businesses in the Middle East and Africa. Unnamed sources quoted by Bloomberg say that the company has held early talks with advisors about selling assets and it is also looking at an initial public offering (IPO). If it decides to sell its entire business in this region it may seek up to US$8bn. However, the sources thought that finding a buyer at this scale might prove difficult given market conditions. In 2018 the building materials producer operated 44 integrated and cement grinding plants in the region, 30 aggregates plants and 212 ready-mix concrete plants. LafargeHolcim has declined to comment on the report.

Indonesia: LafargeHolcim has closed the divestment of its Holcim Indonesia. It has sold its 80.6% share of the subsidiary to Semen Indonesia for US$1.75bn. The deal was first announced in November 2018. The company said that the proceeds from the sale would ‘significantly’ improve its net debt to recurring earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) ratio by 0.2 with the target of two times or less to be achieved by the end of 2019. LafargeHolcim has been targeting divestments as part of its Strategy 2022 initiative.

Switzerland: Deliveries of cement rose slightly to 4.29Mt in 2018 from 4.27Mt in 2017. CemSuisse, the local cement association, said that it was expecting lower imports in 2018 due to reduced cement demand. Over half of the deliveries were made by rail at 51.5% but the share of road deliveries increased. Over 70% of local cement production was delivered to ready-mix concrete plants and around a further 20% was sent to in-situ concrete plants at major construction projects.

US/Europe: US refractory manufacturer Plibrico has entered into a distribution partnership with the Pli Group Europe, a refractory distributor contractor based in Vienna, Austria. Under the new alliance, Pli Group Europe will provide full-service distribution of Plibrico’s Plico brand refractories in Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria, with immediate effect.

“Adding Pli Group Europe to our ranks of Pli Partners allows Plibrico to reinforce its expertise, enhance its service offering and strengthen the value chain offered to customers throughout Europe,” said Brad Taylor, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Plibrico.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim has added human resources (HR) and legal representation to its executive committee.

Feliciano González Muñoz, head of HR, has been appointed as a member of the executive committee. A Spanish national, he has worked for more than 11 years in senior HR roles with the company. González Muñoz has a PhD in Law from Universidad Complutense de Madrid and holds an MBA from Instituto de Empresa, Madrid.

Keith Carr, head of Legal and Compliance, has been appointed as a member of the executive committee. A UK national, he joined LafargeHolcim in 2017. Prior to this he was General Counsel for GE Power. Before that he was Group General Counsel & Member of the Executive Committee for Alstom. Carr gained his LLB law degree from Northumbria University and is a qualified solicitor in England and Wales.

Additionally, the group’s Corporate Growth and Performance function will be organised into three Centres of Excellence, which will directly report to the Region Heads. This is intended to lead to a more agile organisation, closer to the markets and providing strong global platforms for sharing best-demonstrated practice. Current Corporate Growth and Performance function head Urs Bleisch will lead the reorganisation but he will step down from his current position on the executive position to do so.

All changes will be effective from the start of January 2019.