Displaying items by tag: Ireland

Ireland: CRH says that it completed a further phase of its share buyback programme in late December 2021 with the acquisition of shares worth US$300m. The figure brings the company’s total investment in its on-going share buyback programme to US$2.9bn since it started in mid-2018. CRH has now launched the next phase of the programme, to continue until March 2022, during which time it plans to acquire a further US$300m-worth of its shares. France-based financier Societe Generale will act as principal for the repurchases on the Euronext Dublin exchange.

Ireland: CRH’s consolidated sales rose by 11% year-on-year to US$22.8bn in the first nine months of 2021, according to the group’s nine-month trading update. The company recorded earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$3.9bn, up by 15% year-on-year. CRH forecast a full-year EBITDA of US$5.25bn.

CRH said that it invested US$1.4bn in new acquisitions in the first nine months of 2021. It added that there remains a strong pipeline of opportunities open to it. At the end of the third quarter of 2021, the company had completed US$800m-worth of its share buyback programme.

Chief executive officer Albert Manifold said “CRH continues to perform well, with good underlying demand and pricing progress across our key markets. Our uniquely integrated and solutions-focused business model has supported further margin expansion across our businesses, while our strong cash generation and disciplined approach to capital allocation provides further opportunities to create value for all of our stakeholders.” He added “Looking ahead to the remainder of the year, we expect to deliver another record performance for the group.”

France: Ireland-based Ecocem has opened its new innovation centre, the Centre of Excellence, in Paris. The purpose of the facility is to help to accelerate the development of new technology for the decarbonisation of the cement and construction industries. Ecocem's innovation team will use it for industrial-scale trials in collaboration with industry and academic partners, including Paris-Saclay University and The University of Toulouse. It says that it hopes that one outcome will be the further developmentof the Ecocem reduced-CO₂ product range. Breakthrough Energy Ventures provided funding towards the centre's construction.

Ecocem innovation director Laurent Frouin said “Ecocem is committed to the deep and rapid decarbonisation of the global cement industry. It is essential for the planet and future generations, and it can be achieved through innovation and technology." He added “The cement and construction industries are developing and deploying a range of emission reduction technologies – Ecocem and our new Centre of Excellence will add a further dimension to these efforts.”

Benelux: Ireland-based Ecocem has appointed Paul Roos as Ecocem Benelux Managing Director and Joris Schoon as Technical Developer.

Prior to this appointment, Roos was the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Commercial Director at Huntsman Corporation. At Ecocem, he will be responsible for managing Ecocem Benelux.

Schoon holds a PhD in civil engineering, specialising in concrete and environment. He holds over 20 years of industry experience. He will be based in Belgium for this role.

UK/Ireland: Mannok has launched a comprehensive biodiversity report, the Natural Assets Action Plan, in partnership with the conservationist group Ulster Wildlife. The report examines the entirety of the company’s landholdings, which span 800ha on both sides of the EU/UK border. Habitats include grasslands, wetlands, woodlands, ponds and quarries. The report will provide a roadmap for the conservation, restoration and enhancement of each area of land to help Mannok to meet its sustainability targets. Key aims include increasing biodiversity awareness among Mannok staff, customers and local communities, improving biodiversity monitoring, maximising carbon absorption in soil and vegetation, rewilding the natural landscape and ensuring resilience to predicted climate change effects.

Chief executive officer Liam McCaffrey said “This report informs our understanding of the value of natural assets to the business and wider community and will help guide our long-term planning and strategic investment decisions in a way which aims to maintain and enhance those assets. Already it has started to change our perspectives of what was previously considered wasteland. Now, we can see opportunities for careful and considered restoration into valuable natural assets for the future. Additionally, the work involved in creating the plan has allowed us to focus on the whole area of carbon mitigation in ways which we would not have considered before. The way in which we are looking at carbon reduction through careful management of our land is a relatively novel concept in industry, but we now recognise it as a critical tool in the fight against climate change.”

He added “The report is full of very valuable recommendations on what we can practically do over the next three - five years and beyond to continue enhancing and restoring our land assets, and we are very much committed to delivering on this. We will commit resources, time, people and finances to develop the recommendations.”

UK: ZwickRoell UK and Ireland has begun the construction of its new headquarters in Worcester, Worcestershire. The facilities will consist of a customer experience centre, a suite of offices, meeting and seminar rooms and a comprehensively equipped demonstration laboratory. Managing director Benno Sadowski said “We are very happy to be establishing a new facility in the Worcester Six Business Park, with its excellent strategic location in the UK.” He added “With our experience of more than 160 years in the materials testing equipment business, we are always investigating ways in which we can better support our customers with our advanced technology testing solutions in addition to creating relationships which embody our brand, vision and values.”

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.”