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Arabian Cement gets US$107m loan 26 February 2015
Saudi Arabia: Arabian Cement Company has signed an agreement with Saudi British Bank for US$107m of Islamic financing. The loan is to be repaid over a period of five years, including a one-year grace period. Arabian Cement said that it will use the loan to finance part of the first phase of an expansion project to install two new cement mills.
Cement consumption expected to decline by 15% in 2015 26 February 2015
Russia: According to the Russian Cement Association (CMPRO), for the first time since 2009, domestic cement consumption is expected to decline by 15% in 2015 due to the reduction in housing and infrastructure development.
Sales have dropped by at least 5% since the start of 2015. The slow decline may continue for several years. Lafarge expects that the strongest drop, by some 8 - 12%, will be seen in central regions of Russia. Lafarge intends to produce about 2.6Mt in 2015. Siberian Cement has predicted that the cement market of Siberia may shrink by 5 - 7% in 2015 and will reduce its production by 7% to 4Mt during the year. According to the NEO Centre consulting group, cement output in Russia grew by 3% year-on-year to 68.4Mt in 2014.
TCL reports US$15.3m loss for 2014 26 February 2015
Trinidad & Tobago: Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) has recorded major losses in 2014. Company CEO Alejandro Ramirez said that TCL achieved a pre-tax loss of US$15.3m in 2014, compared to a pre-tax profit of US$6.14m in 2013. TCL also recorded a post-tax loss of US$33.2m in 2014, compared to a profit of US$10.5m in 2013.
TCL's sales increased by 9% year-on-year from US$299m in 2013 to US$330m in 2014. This was mainly driven by TCL's cement and Readymix segments. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) remained flat at US$63.4m in 2014. Despite the sales increase, EBITDA didn't increase because there were some extraordinary items that affected the results, according to Ramirez. He said that the 'extraordinary' expenses totalled US$8.97m and included the impairment of weather-damaged clinker, which was stored outside TCL's Barbados subsidiary Arawak Cement Company for several years.
Holcim is rebranded as Cemex Cement in Czech Republic 26 February 2015
Czech Republic: Holcim (Cesko) will change its name to Cemex Cement from 1 March 2015. At the same time, Holcim will transfer part of the plant producing ready-mixed concrete to Cemex Czech Republic and part of the stone aggregate production plant to Cemex Sand. The changes follow the acquisition of all of Holcim's assets in the Czech Republic by Cemex in January 2015.
Dalmia Cement increases its stake in OCL India to 74.6% for US$165m 26 February 2015
India: Dalmia Cement has raised its stake holding in OCL India from 48% to 74.6% through an inter-se share transfer within the promoter group. It acquired a 4.13% stake from Mridu Hari Dalmia and a 22.45% stake from Mridu Hari Dalmia Parivar Trust at a share price of US$10.9 though open market transactions. The deal is worth US$165m. Since the deal involves inter-se transfer, it will not trigger an open offer for OCL India, despite breaching the creeping acquisition limit of a listed firm.
As part of consolidation and growth of the cement sector, Dalmia Bharat Group has been strategically acquiring assets and creating new assets in southern, eastern and northeastern India. OCL India has plants in Odisha and West Bengal. With Dalmia Cement increasing its stake in OCL India, Dalmia group will have 48% of its capacity in south India and the remaining 52% in east and northeast India.
"The move will help to create better operational synergies. It is a step forward in the commitment towards aligning all stakeholders' interests and overall value creations," said Dalmia Bharat. Dalmia Group expects to have a total capacity of 24Mt/yr in the 2015 – 2016 financial year through both greenfield and brownfield projects.