Displaying items by tag: shareholders

Australia: Seven Group has increased its stake in Boral to 52% via a 3% equity swap with Macquarie. the company now has effective control of the building materials producer although it assured Boral that it would retain a majority of independent directors, according to the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. However, Boral has continued to urge its shareholders to resist the ongoing offer by Seven Group to buy their shares. The takeover bid has been valued at around US$6.5bn. Boral is currently in the process of selling its US fly ash business.

Little trickles of detail about the European Union’s (EU) proposed carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) started to emerge last week. The key bit of information that Bloomberg managed to squeeze out of their source was that a transition period with a simplified system is being considered from 2023 and then a full version could turn up in 2026. Cement importers, and those in selected other heavy industries, would be required to buy electronic emission certificates at prices corresponding to those in the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS). Other titbits include: that the prices will be set on a weekly basis based on the average carbon permit price within the EU that week; a default value will be devised for importers who can’t back up their emissions data; and imports from a country with its own carbon pricing scheme will be entitled to a discount. The plans are due to be made public in mid-July 2021. Debate is then expected to follow before approval will be required from the European Parliament and member states.

The detail isn’t out there yet but the CBAM is set to collide with trade agreement territory. For example, how the draft agreement tackles issues such as exports from Europe and whether importers should be compensated for not receiving a free allocation of carbon credits could be seen to offer competitive advantage to one party or another. Climate policy will clash with trade policy once or if the CBAM makes in into law. At this point countries that import cement into the EU may start trying to negotiate or complaining to the World Trade Organisation. One previous example of climate policy bashing into trade agreements is when the EU tried and failed to apply the ETS to aviation in the early 2010s. The experience from this incident is expected to inform the European Commission’s approach on the CBAM.

Outside the EU, new carbon pricing schemes have been popping up all over the place and various cement associations are creating or refining their own carbon neutral plans. Last week in North America, for example, the Cement Association of Canada said it was working with the government on launching a roadmap by the end of 2021. In the US, the Portland Cement Association (PCA) has also been hard at work to publish its own roadmap by the end of 2021. Meanwhile, over in the oil sector there were a couple of victories for activist shareholders in May 2021 with Shell, Exxon Mobil and Chevron all being forced to make changes to their climate change polices by courts and activist investors. This makes one wonder how long it will be before the same thing happens to cement companies.

All this increases the pressure between trading agreements and climate legislation. One of the questions that has popped up at Global Cement’s webinar series has been whether attendees thought that a global carbon pricing and/or trading scheme might be a realistic position or not (the majority said ‘yes’ within 20 years). Yet the EU CBAM, all these sustainability plans and continued pressure by investor activist don’t happen in isolation. They occur in an interconnected world.

So it was both non-surprising and eye-popping to discover recently that a private carbon exchange is being prepared in Singapore for a launch by the end of 2021. Climate Impact X (CIX) is being backed by DBS Bank, Singapore Exchange, Standard Chartered and the Singapore-government owned investment company Temasek. As for which companies would actually voluntarily enter into a scheme that would actively reduce profits, the answer lies above. Any organisation looking to trade between carbon pricing jurisdictions might well have an economic incentive to find a truly international scheme that was reputable. Or, perhaps, a publicly owned company dealing in carbon-intensive products might be bullied into one by its activist investors. The focus on such an exchange being reputable is essential here, given the potentially large amounts of money that could be involved and the mixed views on existing carbon offsetting schemes. CIX says it will use satellite monitoring, machine learning and blockchain technology to ensure the integrity of its carbon credits and this is certainly thinking in the right direction. Until it arrives though, we wait to see the detail on the EU CBAM.

Switzerland: The shareholders of LafargeHolcim Ltd have voted in favour of changing the group name to Holcim Ltd at the company’s annual general meeting held on 4 May 2021. The name change applies only to the group company name with all market brands remaining in existence. The new group name will become effective upon entry in the commercial register. LafargeHolcim was officially formed in July 2015 when France-based Lafarge and Switzerland-based Holcim merged.

Brazil: Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) for shares in its cement division in early 2021. The Valor Econômico newspaper reported that the company will reorganise its shareholding when it creates a publically-traded subsidiary for the business. In October 2020 the group filed an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil for the sale of its mining division by mid-February 2021.

Chief financial Officer Marcelo Ribeiro said, “The opportunity to expand the unit is materialising more and more, but the truth is the decision to expand will be made once the market firms up, which is expected to happen.”

Bangladesh: The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has written to Aramit Cement to seek an explanation for the company’s transfer of around US$9m as an interest-free loan to a sister company. The Dhaka Tribune newspaper says that the cement producer reported a loss in the financial year to 30 June 2020 and issued no dividend to its shareholders. However, had the company charged 10% interest on the loan, it could enabled the payment of a 20% cash dividend to shareholders. BSEC subsequently sought information on loans to associated companies.

Company secretary Syed Kamruzzaman said, “The board of directors would explain the issue to the BSEC soon.” The BSEC has ordered a refund of the loan along with interest by the end of November 2020.

Egypt: Suez Cement, a HeidelbergCement subsidiary has implemented of a 20% reduction in pay for members of the management committee and a 30% reduction in pay for the managing director in the second quarter of 2020. The cuts are intended as a ‘cost-saving measure’ in line with the company’s aim to reduce expenses. Suez Cement said, “During the last few years the Egyptian cement industry has been going through very challenging times caused by oversupply and a sustained decrease in the demand, and Suez Cement Group has posted negative results. The COVID-19 crisis has complicated market conditions, affecting demand and increasing our costs. Moreover, it has affected our main shareholder, HeidelbergCement. In many countries it has suffered complete shutdowns and it is currently enduring complications in most of the countries that is present.”

Suez Cement continues to employ all staff.

Ireland: The Irish Times newspaper has reported examples of shareholder advisory companies expressing concern about the scale of CRH chief executive officer (CEO) Alfred Manifold’s pay package in the face of mounting financial pressure due to the coronavirus pandemic. Glass Lewis has said in a report that it remains ‘particularly concerned’ about the size of Manifold’s pension benefits, while Institutional Shareholder Services has expressed similar reservations about his remuneration. Manifold had a total reported pay, performance and long term incentive package totalling Euro9.3m in 2019.

Institutional Shareholder Services previously recommended that investors vote against an executive pay rise at CRH in 2018. The multinational building materials company plans to hold its annual general meeting on 23 April 2020.

Building materials companies around the world are expected to face financial pressure as construction markets suffer due to national and regional lockdown measures in response to the coronavirus epidemic.

Mexico & Thailand: Cemex and Siam Cement have made changes to upcoming shareholder meetings in relation to the coronavirus outbreak. Mexico’s Cemex intends to reduce attendance at its general shareholders meeting in late March 2020 and introduce hygiene protocols. Thailand’s Siam Cement has postponed indefinitely its annual general meeting of shareholders scheduled for early April 2020. Its board of directors plan to set a new date when the “situation is resolved.”

Kenya: East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has recorded losses of US$16.2m in 2019, up by 0.6% from US$16.1m in 2018, in spite of sales growth over the period of 8.0% year-on-year to US$14.7 from US$13.6m. Reuters has reported that the company will not be paying its shareholders.

India: UltraTech Cement plans to complete its merger with Century Cement by September 2019. Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said the company has approval from shareholders, the Competition Commission and stock exchanges, according to the Mint newspaper. However, it still needs permission from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

The merger, which was first announced in May 2018, is a long running reorganisation of assets belonging to the Birla family. Once complete it is expected to give UltraTech Cement dominance in all regional markets with the addition of 13.4Mt/yr of production capacity in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.