Displaying items by tag: CEO appointment

Indonesia: The Indonesian government has selected PT Semen Indonesia president director Dwi Soetjipto as the next president director and CEO of the country's state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, following interim chief Muhamed Husen, who took over on 1 October 2014 from Karen Agustiawan. As of 28 November 2014, Soetjitpto is leading Pertamina.

Soetjipto managed PT Semen Indonesia's troubled unit, PT Semen Padang, between 2003 and 2005, where his success in overcoming widespread worker's opposition to the government's plan to sell a controlling stake in the firm to Mexico's Cemex landed him the top post in Semen Indonesia.

Soetjipto gained a Bachelor Degree in Engineering from the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology in Surabaya, East Java, a Masters in Management from the Andalas University in West Sumatra and a PhD in Management from the University of Indonesia in Depok, West Java.

US: The board of directors of Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) has announced that Enrique Escalante will become the CEO of its American division effective from 1 January 2015. The current CEO, Manual Milan, has announced that he will retire at the end of 2014.

"It's a privilege to be selected to lead GCC and I look forward to continuing to grow the organisation," said Escalante. "We remain committed to delivering high value and meeting our customers' needs through leading-edge technology."

Escalante has served as president of GCC of America since 2000. He joined the company in 1999 as president of its Mexican division. Prior to joining GCC, Escalante had more than 20 years experience in management and sales positions in heavy industry and construction materials.

With this change, Ron Henley, vice president of ready-mix and aggregates for GCC of America, will succeed Escalante as president of the company's US division. Henley started with GCC of America in 2012 as vice president of its logistics / supply chain department. In 2013, he assumed his current role. Prior to coming to GCC, Henley was president of Boral Construction Materials.

Under Milan's leadership GCC grew from six to 116 ready-mix concrete plants and from two to six cement plants, achieved an important expansion into the US market and developed a solid distribution network that transformed it into a major supplier in the cement and ready-mix markets it serves. After the 2008 completion of the new plant in Pueblo, Colorado, GCC has now reached an installed a cement capacity of 4.4Mt/yr of cement: 2.4Mt/yr output from the three plants in the US and 2Mt/yr from three plants in Mexico.

Canada: Bruno Roux has been appointed president and CEO for the Eastern Canada business unit of Lafarge Canada. His appointment is effective from 15 September 2014 and he succeeds Bob Cartmel. Cartmel will remain with the Lafarge Group, assisting with the LafargeHolcim merger.

In his new role, Roux will serve as Lafarge's senior leader for all market areas and product lines in Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. Roux will also join the Board of Directors of Lafarge Canada. Roux's responsibilities include all operational, sales, marketing and functional elements of the cement, aggregates and ready-mix concrete product lines. He will lead these teams from the Eastern Canada head office in Toronto.

"I am very excited for the opportunity to lead an extremely talented team in Eastern Canada," said Roux. "I am looking forward to working with our customers, architects and other stakeholders in achieving our ambition of building better cities."

Roux most recently held the position of president and CEO of Lafarge's operations in Poland. A native of France, Roux is a graduate of l'École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers.

India: Harish Badami has taken over as CEO and managing director of ACC effective from 13 August 2014. The former CEO and managing director, Kuldip Kaura, left his position on the same date. The board of ACC, in which Holcim has a majority stake, had approved Badami's appointment in June 2014.

Immediately before joining ACC on 1 August 2014, Badami had served as managing director of Celanese India. He has held similar positions of president and managing director of Dow Chemical India, as well as managing director of Rohm and Haas India, before its acquisition in 2009 by Dow Chemical.

India: ACC has reported a second quarter 2014 net profit of US$40.1m, some 7% lower than the US$43.1m reported in the second quarter of 2013. The fall in profit was attributed to higher total expenses. ACC also announced that Harish Badami was appointed as CEO and managing director with effect from 13 August 2014.

"Manufacturing and distribution costs continued to face escalation, though we derived some benefits from the ongoing cost leadership programme and an increase in the sales of premium products," said ACC.

Revenue grew by 7.5% year-on-year to US$509m during the second quarter of 2014, aided by higher volumes. Sales volumes increased to 6.35Mt, up from 6.12Mt in the same period of 2013.

"Demand for cement showed some improvement and the company's overall sales volumes during the quarter improved by 4%," said ACC. The company expects the positive trend in demand for cement to continue as a result of government's emphasis on housing and infrastructure development.

Profit before interest and tax from its cement business declined to US$50.7m from US$57.7m year-on-year. Operating profit (EBITDA) dropped by 8% year-on-year to US$74.9m. Total expenses during the quarter increased by 10% compared to year-ago period due to higher raw material and employee costs and increased power, fuel and freight charges. Other expenses grew by 8% year-on-year.

India: Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (R-Infra), part of Reliance Group, has named M S Mehta as chief executive officer (CEO) with effect from 7 July 2014. He will take over as CEO from Lalit Jalan, who held the portfolio for more than seven years.

Mehta was the Group CEO of Vedanta Resources Plc until recently, having held the position for five years. Prior to that, Mehta was the CEO of Hindustan Zinc Ltd. Mehta is a mechanical engineer and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

R-Infra is an infrastructure company developing projects, through various special purpose vehicles, in sectors such as roads, metro rail and cement. R-Infra also promoted Jalan as director (corporate strategy and affairs), saying that Jalan will steer future growth initiatives.

India: The board of directors of ACC Ltd has appointed Harish Badami as CEO and managing director (MD) designate with effect from 1 August 2014. Badami will assume responsibility as CEO and MD of the company for a period of five years. He will succeed Kuldip Kaura.

"With the Jamul cement plant (in Chhattisgarh State) expansion coming on stream in 2015, ACC is now well poised to serve the Indian market which is on the threshold of rapid growth," said Kaura.

"At this juncture, with the economy showing positive signs, I look forward to the exciting opportunity to participate in its growth," said Badami.

Mexico: The board of Cemex may soon decide on a new CEO to replace the late Lorenzo Zambrano, who died of heart failure in Madrid on 12 May 2014. A funeral Mass was held on 14 May 2014.

Directors are likely to hold a meeting in the next few days, according to CFO Fernando Gonzalez. "The board meeting should occur this week," said Gonzalez. "What I can't tell you is the result." A swift decision by directors on a new CEO may reassure investors about the course of Cemex after Zambrano's three-decade tenure. He led the company to the top of the regional industry with US$29bn of acquisitions and became one of Mexico's best-known CEOs, while leaving no publicly anointed successor. Gonzalez, Cemex's CFO, is the odds-on favourite to succeed Zambrano according to analysts.

Gonzalez said that he didn't know whether the board would consider hiring a leader from outside of the company and that major shifts in the business are unlikely. "Cemex's strategy should be maintained," he said. "The strategy is to participate in the global market of the building materials industry." Gonzalez, who isn't a director, said that only the board knows the details of Cemex's succession planning. Even if the board meets this week, there's no guarantee it will make a final decision on new leadership.

India: The selection for the post of chief executive of the Cement Corporation of India (CCI), which is run by the state of New Dehli, has triggered controversy with regards to the preparation of the list of candidates and the criteria for selection, which was allegedly changed to include some names at the last minute. The CBI has taken note of complaints and is expected to order a probe soon.

The Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) issued a list on 11 March 2014 with the names of 15 candidates who has been shortlisted for the interview. After about a week, the PESB released a list of 16 candidates, allegedly flouting its own guidelines on the upper limit on the number of candidates. In the second list an external candidate was added, with no explanation given. The candidate who was seventh on the first list was moved to number one position on the second list. The only internal candidate was allegedly downgraded to the second position on the second list after being put on top of the league on the first list.

US: ANH Refractories Company has named Stephen M Delo as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Gabriel Faimann, the company's former Interim CEO, who has left to pursue other career opportunities.

Delo most recently served as Director of Integrated Supply Chain for Honeywell International's Performance, Materials and Technologies business and has held senior leadership roles of increasing responsibility during his 34 year tenure with Honeywell. He began his career with Honeywell (formerly Allied Chemical) after receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering at Louisiana State University, where he also later earned his Masters' degree in Business Administration.

"I am excited to be named Chief Executive Officer for ANH," said Delo. "I look forward to the opportunity to transform ANH's operations and drive long-term growth and sustainability. I am excited to be working with ANH employees to build upon our company's reputation and develop innovative ways to successfully meet the needs of our customers, as well as expand our markets served and products offered."