People

Saudi Arabia: Halla Waleed Al-Juffali has been appointed as a member of the Board of Directors (independent director) of the Saudi Cement Company. Her appointment is subject to shareholder approval. She replaces Waleed Ahmed Al-Juffali, who resigned with effect from 4 February 2016 due to health reasons.

Halla holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business administration degree, majoring in International Business, from the International University of America in London. She has been a director with Ebrahim Al-Juffali and Brothers and Walid Juaffali & Partners. Halla has previously worked as a business analyst for British, European and Chinese investment markets.

Romania: Sofiane Benmaghnia has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Holcim Romania effective from 1 April 2016. He will replace François Petry, who has became the CEO of Aggregates Industries, the LafargeHolcim subsidiary in the UK, in December 2015.

Benmaghnia, aged 39 years, has been the general manager of Meftah Cement Operations, Aggregates & Concrete in Algeria since 2011. Previously, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Lafarge Betoane si Agregate in the Middle East for three years. He joined LafargeHolcim group in 1999 as financial analyst.

Switzerland: The LafargeHolcim Board of Directors has decided to propose Beat Hess as its new Chairman to its shareholders. The decision follows the announcement that the current chairman, Wolfgang Reitzle, has informed the Board that he will not stand for re-election at the Company’s May 2016 Annual General Meeting.

Reitzle cited other business commitments for his decision, including the Chairmanship of the Linde Supervisory Board. He was a key part of the successful merger between Lafarge and Holcim in 2015.

Hess, a Swiss national born in 1949, is currently Vice-Chairman of the Board, a Member of the Strategy & Sustainable Development Committee and a Member of the Finance & Audit Committee. He was elected to the Board of Directors of then Holcim in 2010. From 1977 to 2003, he was legal counsel and later General Counsel of the ABB Group. From 2004 until the end of 2010, he was Legal Director and a member of the Executive Committee of the Royal Dutch Shell Group, London and The Hague. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Nestlé S.A. and of Sonova Holding AG.

India: Kakatiya Cement Sugar & Industries has appointed Shri P Veeraiah as its chairman and managing director effective from 3 February 2016. He was previously the joint managing director of the company. The appointment has been made following the death of Shri P Venkateswarlu. It is subject to the approval of shareholders, which is expected to be obtained at the next annual general meeting.

UK: Untha UK has appointed Marcus Brew as its new managing director. Brew was previously the sales director. The previous managing director since 1997, Chris Oldfield, will become the company chairman.

"Having been a part of the business for seven years, it is a pleasure to now lead the company through our next phase of growth. In truth, Chris and I won't feel much of a change, as we've both been concentrating on these responsibilities for some time – the new titles are really just a formality," commented Brew.