Displaying items by tag: Ireland
Ecocem’s turnover rises but costs bite
26 November 2018Ireland: Ecocem Materials’ turnover rose by 9.4% in 2017 to Euro79.4m from Euro72.6m in 2016. Pre-tax profit fell by 37.5% to Euro2.5m from Euro4m in 2016, as its costs rose by 12% to Euro76.5m from Euro68.6m.
Ecocem makes cement using waste from steel slag. The company has its head offices and a factory in Dublin, as well as businesses in the UK, France and the Netherlands. It is looking to expand into the US, although its subsidiary Orcem Americas has come up against stiff resistance from environmental groups in San Francisco.
CRH earnings driven by American markets so far in 2018
20 November 2018Ireland: CRH’s sales rose by 3% year-on-year to Euro19.9bn in the first nine months of 2018. Its earnings before interest, taxation, deprecation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 2% on a like-for-like basis to Euro2.5bn. The building materials producer said that its earnings had been supported by growth in the Americas despite poor weather. It added that ‘momentum’ remained positive in Europe and demand had improved in Asia. However, its EBITDA dropped by 44% in Asia.
By region the group reported falling cement sales volumes in the UK and Ukraine. Sales volumes rose in most other European territories, with particular growth in Hungary, Germany, Poland, Serbia and Switzerland. In the US it said that its newly acquired Ash Grove Cement assets and ones in Florida had performed in line with expectations. However, sales in Canada fell due to poor weather. Sales in the Philippines rose by 3% due to rising cement sales volumes and prices following growing demand. However, here earnings were hit by higher fuel and power costs.
Lagan bagged cement products rebrand as Breedon
02 November 2018Ireland/UK: Lagan Group’s bagged cement, brick and tile products have been rebranded within the Breedon Group. The Irish company was acquired by Breedon Group earlier in 2018. It manufactures a range of bagged cement, concrete roof tiles and clay facing bricks, which it supplies to builders’ merchants across the UK and Ireland. The newly branded range has widened the product range available through Breedon’s distributor network.
As James Cousins, regional director responsible for Breedon’s specialist building products, said, “It’s a very exciting time to be part of Breedon. We’ve spent the last few months getting to know our new colleagues, as well as the products and plants within the group, and the rebranding from Lagan to Breedon demonstrates our commitment to the market to move forward as a single brand, leveraging the strength of the enlarged group to offer our customers high quality products and the highest level of customer service.”
CRH appoints non-executive directors
03 October 2018Ireland: CRH has appointed Mary Rhinehart and Siobhan Talbot as non-executive directors. Rhinehart will join with effect from 1 October 2018 and Talbot will join with effect from 1 December 2018.
Rhinehart, aged 60 years, is chairman, chief executive officer (CEO) and president of Johns Manville, a building materials manufacturer. Over nearly 40 years with Johns Manville she has held a wide range of global leadership roles, encompassing responsibility for business management and strategic business development. Prior to being appointed as president and CEO in 2012, she held the role of chief financial officer.
Rhinehart was until recently a non-executive Director of Ply Gem Holdings and is currently a non-executive director of CoBiz Financial. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Finance from the University of Colorado and an MBA degree from the University of Denver.
Talbot, aged 54 years, is Group Managing Director of Glanbia, a global nutrition company with operations in 32 countries, a position she has held since 2013. She has been a member of the Glanbia Board since 2009 and was previously finance director, a role which encompassed responsibility for Glanbia’s strategic planning. Prior to joining Glanbia, she worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dublin and Sydney.
Talbot is a director of the Irish Business Employers Confederation. She is a fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland and graduated from University College Dublin with a Bachelor of Commerce and Diploma in Professional Accounting.
Quinn Cement launches new cement range in Ireland
12 September 2018Ireland: Quinn Cement has launched a new range of bagged cement products in Ireland following its launch previously in the UK. The company invested over Euro3m in their cement plant to bring the new range to the market, which includes three new cement products: General Purpose Cement, Master Grade Cement and Premium Grade Cement.
General Purpose Cement is intended to be a versatile cement product, suitable for general use, particularly in smaller jobs and repairs. Master Grade Cement is targeted at plastering and mortar due to its workability. Premium Grade Cement is a high-strength product at 42.5N.
“We’re delighted to bring the new range to Ireland, particularly given the success we’ve seen in the British market, where bagged cement sales have seen a huge increase since the range was launched earlier this year. News of the Irish launch has been very well received by our merchant customers, and the demand to stock the new products here has been growing since they were unveiled for the British market. In particular, we expect the weatherproof bags to be very popular across Ireland, as they have been in Britain,” said Quinn Building Products’ Irish Sales and Marketing Director, Seamus McMahon.
CRH audit put out to tender
11 September 2018Ireland: An Euro22bn audit of CRH has been put out to tender, as mandatory rotation rules require it to replace incumbent EY. The move was announced in CRH's 2017 annual report, which said EY would have to be replaced by 2021 in order to comply with European Union (EU) rules designed to increase the independence of auditors.
Ireland has adopted a strict interpretation of the EU rules by requiring financial institutions and listed companies to replace auditors every 10 years. This contrasts with the UK's more liberal regime, which only requires audits to be put out to tender every 10 years, leaving companies free to reappoint their existing auditors. EY is based in the UK. It is possible that CRH may be seeking to reappoint a non-UK firm prior to the UK’s departure from the EU on 29 March 2019.
Breedon benefits from Lagan purchase
05 September 2018UK: Breedon Group has reported its first half results for 2018, which showed a 16% year-on-year increase in revenue to Euro419.3m and a 3% fall in profit before tax to Euro33.7m. The group completed the acquisition of Ireland-based Lagan Group during the period under review, as well as other companies in the UK.
Peter Tom CBE, Executive Chairman, commented, “This was one of the busiest periods in the Group’s history, with four acquisitions completed by 1 July 2018, including our first outside Great Britain, coupled with continued organic investment in a number of key projects. We had anticipated a challenging 2018 and so it proved in the first half, with testing trading conditions exacerbated by the severe weather in the first quarter and rising input costs throughout the period. Despite these headwinds, we delivered a resilient performance.”
“We continue to view the medium- to long-term outlook in Great Britain positively, with infrastructure spending forecast to increase steadily over the next three years and government strategies to address our chronic housing shortage expected to fuel continued growth in the residential sector. Market conditions in Ireland are expected to be even healthier, with construction output in the Republic forecast to grow by approximately 28% in the three years to 2020 and Northern Ireland expected to sustain construction output at approximately Euro3.33bn/yr from 2018 to 2022.”
CRH to build up Euro7bn cash pile
24 August 2018Ireland: CRH has said that is looking to build up a ‘cash pile’ of Euro7bn. It says it will use the funds for anything from acquisitions to share buybacks. Finance director Senan Murphy said the company was showing the market that it is ‘not just a one-trick pony that just does acquisitions.’ The money will be the cash left over after spending on capital expenditure, interest, tax and other payments.
"There are a number of options where that money can be deployed, and we will deploy it wherever it creates the most value for shareholders," said Murphy. "We can reinvest it in our business, we can invest it in acquisitions, we can continue on with buybacks or we can increase the level of dividends."
The company posted a 1% rise in revenue and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) year-on-year in the first half of 2018. It expects EBITDA in the second half to be ahead of that seen in the second half of 2017.
CRH first half results dented by poor weather
23 August 2018Ireland: CRH’s financial results for the first half of 2018 have been negatively affected by poor weather in Europe and North America. Its sales revenue rose by 1% year-on-year to Euro11.9bn in the reporting period. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 1% to Euro1.13bn from Euro1.12bn.
“We have had a good first half, despite significant weather disruption in Europe and North America in the first quarter. Construction markets continued to recover and pricing gathered momentum in key European markets, while there was solid volume and price growth against a positive economic backdrop in the Americas,” said chief executive Albert Manifold. He added that the company was experiencing ‘challenging’ conditions in the Philippines.
Quinn Cement expands fleet with 14 trucks
26 July 2018Ireland/UK: Quinn Cement has expanded its fleet of trucks with 14 Mercedes mountain lorries. The lorries were delivered between July 2017 and May 2018. All 14 vehicles are now in use in Quinn’s Doon and Swanlinbar quarries, transporting rock to the Quinn Cement plant at Derrylin.
The receipt of the new lorries marks the latest phase of an on-going fleet replenishment programme. The new mountain lorries are more efficient than the vehicles they have replaced as they carry a bigger payload. All these trucks are rated to work at 50t gross weight giving them a payload of around 33t, depending on the body. Ten of the new lorries’ bodies were manufactured, fitted and painted by C-Tec Engineering of Magherafelt, Northern Ireland. The final four lorries which have recently arrived on site, have a body that was manufactured in Italy by Drago and transported in kit form to Ireland to be assembled, painted and fitted by Gleeson Steel & Engineering in Tipperary.