Displaying items by tag: Ireland

Ireland: Ecocem Group has appointed Pat Cox as its chair. Cox is a former journalist and television current affairs reporter who later entered politics and became President and Member of the European Parliament (MEP). He is also a former member of the Irish parliament. His sustainability roles include chair of the Finance Green Ireland Committee, chair of the Gore Street Energy Storage Fund, the first ever listed fund for grid scale battery storage by the London Stock Exchange, and chair of the inaugural Dublin Climate Dialogues. He is also a board member of Supernode, an Irish renewables technology start-up and Gresham House Ireland.

UK: Mannok has commissioned a Euro2.1m bagging system supplied by Germany-based Haver & Boecker. The order included a Roto-Packer Adams 10 spout bag filling system and a new automatic film reel changer, designed to run at 1200 bags/hr. Installation took place in the second quarter of 2021 and the new bagging unit is now in production. The upgrade now gives Mannok the capacity to pack around 50t/hr of cement in weatherproof bags.

Chief executive officer Liam McCaffrey said, “This is a major investment in our Cement operations which completes the second phase of our investment in our weatherproof bagging line, upgrading it from a single to a double bagging line with a significant increase in output capacity. Our initial investment to bring our weatherproof polyethylene bags to the market was in response to demand from Great Britain-based merchants and we later introduced the bags to the Irish market, where the response was equally positive.”

The cement producer operates an integrated plant at Derrylin, Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. It previously installed a weatherproof bagging line in 2018 that allows it to extend its range of bagged cements.

Ireland: CRH’s first-half consolidated sales rose by 15% year-on-year in 2021 to Euro14.0bn from Euro12.2bn in the first half of 2020. Its earnings before interest, depreciation, taxation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 25% to Euro2.00bn from Euro1.59bn. Group profit for the period more than doubled to Euro815m from Euro406m. The divestment of its Brazilian cement business during the half contributed towards the profit growth. Cement volumes increased in all of the group’s regions. Cement, lime and cement products sales rose by 21% to Euro2.36bn from Euro1.94bn.

Chief Executive Albert Manifold said ‘‘I am pleased to report a good first half as the strength and resilience of our business model once again delivers superior performance for CRH. Our integrated and solutions-focused approach leaves us uniquely positioned for the changing needs of construction, while our continued strong cash generation provides us with the flexibility to invest in future growth opportunities for our business. Based on current trading conditions and the positive momentum that we see across our markets, we expect second-half group EBITDA to be ahead of a record prior year.’’

Ireland: CRH recorded a 3% like-for-like year-on-year consolidated net sales increase in the first quarter of 2021. American regional cement volumes increased by 5% and cement prices increased by 4%. Asian cement sales increased due to stronger volumes despite lower prices. Cement volumes rose in France but fell in Ireland due to the different timelines of the Covid-19 outbreak in each country in the periods under comparison. The price of cement rose in Eastern Europe. The group said that there is currently good underlying demand and continued pricing progress across key markets.

In the first quarter of 2021, the company spent US$200m on acquisitions. It says that it continues to have a ‘strong pipeline of opportunities.’ It earned US$200m from divestment of its Brazilian business. The company continues its share buyback programme with a US$300m tranche to be completed by the end of June 2021. It expects its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the first half of 2021 to be ‘well ahead’ of first-half 2020 levels.

Chief executive officer Albert Manifold said “We had a positive start to the year in a seasonally quiet period for our business. He added “While near-term uncertainties remain, as we look ahead to the second half of the year we expect further normalisation in our markets as the health situation continues to improve.”

Ireland: CRH has appointed Jim Mintern as group finance director with effect from 1 June 2021. He will also join the company’s board of directors at the same time. He succeeds Senan Murphy who is retiring.

Mintern, aged 54 years, is a chartered accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University College Dublin. He has over 30 years of experience in the building materials industry, nearly 20 years of which have been with CRH.

He joined CRH in Ireland as finance director for Roadstone in 2002 and since then has held several senior positions across the group, including country manager for Ireland and managing director of each of the Western and Eastern regions of our Europe Materials business. Mintern is an executive vice president of CRH and a member of the group’s Global Leadership Team. In his most recent role as chief of staff to the chief executive officer he worked with divisional and operational leadership, having oversight of group performance programmes and leading the planning and execution of some of the group’s recent large acquisitions including Ash Grove in North America in 2018.

Ireland: CRH’s consolidated earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 5% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis to US$4.6bn in 2020 from US$4.5bn in 2019. Sales fell by 2% to US$27.6bn from US$28.1bn. The group reported a net debt/EBITDA ratio of 1.3x, its lowest since 2010.

Chief executive officer Albert Manifold said, "Our 2020 performance is testament to the commitment of our people and the strength and resilience of our business model. Through the repositioning of our business in recent years and our relentless focus on continuous business improvement, we have delivered record levels of profitability, margins and cash generation. Although the near-term outlook remains uncertain, our unique portfolio of businesses together with the strength of our balance sheet leaves us well positioned to capitalise on the growth opportunities that lie ahead."

By division the group reported growth in its US cement sales volumes in 2020 on a like-for-like basis due to demand in the west, surpassing the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic elsewhere. However, volumes fell in Canada, particularly in the first half of the year. In 2020, CRH adopted the Ash Grove brand for all its North American cement businesses, unifying 12 cement plants and 42 cement terminals under one brand. In Europe sales and earnings fell due to poor markets in the west despite better conditions on the east. The group noted that it grew its profit in the Philippines due to a strong recovery in the second half and cost savings despite plant shutdowns.

Ireland/UK: Mannok says that it has undertaken extensive preparatory measures to help its operations continue smoothly when the Brexit transition period ends on 31 December 2020. While keeping operations unchanged, the group has formed new legal entities such as Mannok GB, which will deal with UK customers. The group acknowledged that prices would depend on the future tariff arrangement between the UK and the EU, but would remain in line with market pricing. It added that the same effects would impacts competitors, who import significant amounts of raw materials from Europe.

The group said that it has been working closely with suppliers for over 18 months to ensure the security of its supply chains. It sources almost all raw materials for cement production from its own reserves.

Chief financial officer Dara O’Reilly said, “A key priority for us in all of this was to ensure that the service we can provide to our customers in a post-Brexit environment is as seamless as possible. We’ve made the changes to our structures; we’ve made the changes to how we operate and as a result of that, regardless of the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, we’re ready.”

Ireland: CRH recorded earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$3.40bn in the first nine months of 2020, up by 2% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis from the corresponding period of 2019. The company said that it now expects full-year EBITDA in 2020 to exceed 2019 levels on a like-for-like basis at over US$4.40bn. Sales fell by 3% to US$20.6b but group added that it had “continued strong cash generation.”

Chief executive officer (CEO) Albert Manifold said, “Markets continue to be impacted by the global pandemic and, while we have seen some lower activity levels, I am pleased to report further improvement in trading performance, with an advance in both profitability and margins. The outlook for the coming months remains uncertain and visibility is limited, however I am confident that we are well positioned for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”

Ireland: Jim Culliton, a former chief executive officer (CEO) of CRH, has died. He originally started working for Roadstone before eventually becoming the CEO of the merged Cement Roadstone Holdings (CRH) for 13 years, according to the Irish Independent newspaper. Notably, he presided over the start of the company’s move from a domestic building materials producer to a multinational one. At home in Ireland he was also known for the 'Culliton Report,' an influential Irish industrial policy document published in the early 1990s.

Ireland: Ecocem Group has appointed John Reddy as Group Quality and Innovation Application Manager. In the new role he will lead a growing technical team across Europe including Ireland, UK, Sweden, Benelux and France. He is tasked with developing the product pipeline for the group and assisting with product commercialisation across Europe.

Conor O’Riain, Group Managing Director said, “His undeniable commitment to Ecocem and the cement industry is unquestionable and this new role signifies the growth of Ecocem products across Europe. His appointment marks his advocacy to improving the standard of ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) cement production across the industry”.

Reddy joined Ecocem Ireland in 2004 and has worked for the group in various technical roles. He is a chartered engineer and is a graduate of Civil Engineering from the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) and holds an MSc in Advanced Concrete Technology from Queens University, Belfast. His master’s thesis ‘Investigating the thermal activation of GGBS concrete’ was published at the 9th International Concrete Conference and subsequently won the Irish Concrete Society, Sean DeCourcy student award in 2017.