Displaying items by tag: UltraTech Cement
Aditya Birla Group bids for LafargeHolcim assets
21 October 2014India: The Aditya Birla Group has submitted bids to purchase global assets being divested from the LafargeHolcim merger. UltraTech and other companies that belong to Birla have put in bids for cement units of Lafarge and Holcim in Brazil and the Philippines at an enterprise value of US$1.4bn. The group had identified Brazil as a major place for expansion three years ago. The Philippines was among the overseas countries where the group started operations several years ago.
Birla is competing with rival cement companies and private equity funds for the units. Germany's HeidelbergCement has teamed up with Votorantim Cimentos of Brazil while Cemex has joined hands with CRH plc. Eurocement is also in the race. Birla's move is part of its overall plan to increase its cement capacity to 70Mt/yr by early 2016 from 63Mt/yr currently.
Over 50% of Birla's revenues come from its overseas operations. According to a consultant involved with the deal, Birla will be unable to bid for LafargeHolcim assets in some of the market, including India, as a purchase will lead to monopoly in those markets.
UltraTech’s second quarter 2015 profit grows
20 October 2014India: UltraTech has reported a higher net profit in the second quarter of fiscal 2015, on a standalone and consolidated basis, off the back of increased sales. Second-quarter standalone net profit grew by 55% to US$66.9m compared to US$43.1m in the second quarter of 2014. Quarterly net sales stood at US$878m, 20% higher than US$735m in the prior year quarter.
"During the quarter, domestic cement sales volumes increased by 11% on the back of higher demand and additional volume from the acquired units in Gujarat," said UltraTech. "Costs were impacted mainly on account of increase in prices of petcoke, input material and royalty on limestone."
For the first half of 2015, the company's net profit was US$169m, up by 11% from US$153m in the corresponding period of 2014. Net sales and other operating income rose by 17% to US$1.81bn from US$1.56bn for the comparable period of 2014. The combined domestic cement and clinker sales were 10.4Mt, up by 12% from 9.22Mt in 2014, while white cement and wall care putty sales volumes amounted to 302,000t, up by 3% compared to 294,000t in the year-ago quarter.
UltraTech appoints two new additional directors
14 October 2014India: UltraTech Cement Limited has appointed Sukanya Kripalu and Renuka Ramnath as additional independent directors with effect from 11 October 2014.
UltraTech linked to bid for Lafarge assets in Brazil
15 October 2014India/Brazil: UltraTech Cement, India's largest cement producer, intends to bid for assets owned by Lafarge in the south-eastern region of Brazil, according to Indian press. If the bid is successful it will be the company's largest overseas deal to date. The Aditya Birla Group company currently holds small assets in west Asia.
The Brazilian assets on sale include three integrated cement plants and two grinding stations with a total capacity of 3.6Mt/yr, as well as one ready-mix plant. The Lafarge assets are on sale as part of the divestment plant following the announcement of the LafargeHolcim merger.
UltraTech has an installed cement production capacity of 62Mt/yr. It has 12 integrated plants, one clinker plant, 16 grinding units and six bulk terminals with operations across India, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
UltraTech completes acquisition of cement units of Jaypee Cement
03 September 2014India: UltraTech Cement has completed the acquisition of cement plants of Jaypee Cement Corporation (JCCL) in Gujarat State. UltraTech informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that the acquisition process had been completed and became effective from 12 June 2014.
In September 2013 UltraTech acquired the cement unit of JCCL, which comprised an integrated cement plant at Sewagram and a grinding plant at Wanakbori, for US$627m. Post-acquisition, UltraTech's total capacity in India stands at 58.8Mt/yr. Including overseas capacity it is 62Mt/yr.
Ultratech allocates cash for expansion drive
07 August 2014India: Ultratech Cement has announced that it has earmarked US$1.14bn of capital expenditure (capex) towards expansion projects over the next three years.
"Our capex for the 2015 fiscal year is expected to be US$618m, for the 2016 fiscal year we will spend US$497m and for the 2017 fiscal year we will spend US$33.3m," said UltraTech Cement's Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla at the company's recent Annual General Meeting. The producer currently claims a total cement capacity of 62Mt/yr. "By early 2016, we expect this to scale up to 70Mt/yr when all ongoing projects will be fully commissioned. A judicious mix of internal accruals and borrowings have been used for funding the projects," Birla said.
Speaking about recent acquisitions, Birla said, "The acquisition of the 4.8Mt/yr Gujarat Cement Units from Jaypee Cement Corporation at a cost of US$620m represents a milestone in UltraTech's growth strategy, strengthening its foothold in the growing western market and bolstering its coastal footprint."
India: Aditya Birla Group's Ultratech Cement Ltd has reported net profits and sales for the first quarter of financial 2015, which was April to June 2014, with regards to both stand-alone and consolidated results. On a consolidated basis, Ultratech's first quarter net profit, after minority interest, was US$104m, whereas the company reported US$111m in the corresponding quarter of 2014. Quarterly net sales and other operating income amounted to US$1.00bn, while the same was at US$880m in the first quarter of the 2014 financial year. Other income stood at US$35.7m in the current fiscal year, up from US$25.4m in the 2014 fiscal year. Combined domestic grey cement and clinker sales volumes were 11.70Mt, up by 16% from 10.08Mt in the same period of 2014.
UltraTech Cement announces resignation of director
02 July 2014India: UltraTech Cement has announced that M Damodaran, the company's Independent Director, has resigned from the board with effect from 20 June 2014. Damodaran has cited increasing work load and time commitments as well as the need to reduce his board level engagements as the reasons for stepping down.
CCI imposes US$66.2m penalty on Shree Cement
19 June 2014India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed the penalty on Shree Cement while issuing the final order in a case against cement manufacturers and their trade body, the Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA).
"The Commission has imposed a penalty on Shree Cement Ltd at the rate of half of its profits for the years 2009 - 2010 and 2010 – 2011, aggregating to US$66.2m," said the CCI. The CCI added that it had, "Found 11 cement manufacturers, including Shree Cement and the CMA, in contravention of the provisions of the Competition Act 2002, which deal with anti-competitive agreements, including cartels." It asked Shree Cement to refrain from such anti-competitive activities in the future.
With regard to the other companies, the CCI said that as they were fined earlier, it was not imposing any penalty on them again for the same period of contravention. In June 2012 the CCI imposed a US$1.05bn fine on 11 leading cement makers, including ACC, Ambuja Cements, UltraTech, India Cements, Binani Cement, JK Cement, Madras Cement, Lafarge and Jaypee Cement. The industry body CMA was also fined US$121,717.
India: UltraTech Cement has received the approval of the Bombay and Ahmedabad High Courts to acquire Jaypee Cement's plant in Gujarat.
UltraTech has already received the approval of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), shareholders and creditors to buy the 4.8Mt/yr cement plant with a 57.5MW coal-fired thermal power plant, limestone reserves for over 90 years and a captive jetty at Sewagram, Maharashtra State, for US$639m. As part of the deal, UltraTech will absorb a debt of US$614m of Jaypee Cement and issue UltraTech shares worth US$25.2m to Jaypee Associates.