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Displaying items by tag: Italy
Italcementi’s third quarter 2014 revenues down by 3%
10 November 2014Italy: Italcementi has reported that in the third quarter of 2014 its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell to Euro469m, down from Euro472m in the third quarter of 2013. Revenues fell by 3% year-on-year to Euro3.12bn. Italcementi confirmed that it still expects to report a higher recurring EBITDA for the full year.
Italcementi offices visited in insider trading probe
06 November 2014Italy: Officers from Italy's market regulator Consob and the tax police visited the headquarters of Italcementi on 5 November 2014 as part of an investigation into alleged insider trading, sources close to the matter said, according to Reuters.
According to local media, the inspections, which were also carried out at the offices of Italcementi's main shareholder Italmobiliare, concerned a series of measures taken by the Italcementi group in March 2013 in a bid it made for its French unit Ciments Francais.
A spokesman for Italcementi said that the group hoped that the Consob inspections would not reveal deliberate intention to do wrong. "In the opposite case, the group's management will take firm initiatives to safeguard the interests of the company, which would be the injured party."
Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi officially opens new Italcementi Rezzato production line
05 November 2014Italy: Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi officially switched on the new kiln at the Italcementi cement plant in Rezzato on 5 November 2013. The 1Mt/yr plant has undergone an extensive production and environmental upgrade that cost Euro150m.
"The new Rezzato plant is the best expression of the Group's strategy: industrial development combined with a firm commitment to innovation and environmental performance," said Italcementi CEO Carlo Pesenti.
He added that the Rezzato upgrade was part of the Pact for the Environment signed by Italcementi and the Ministry in July 2009, which set out an investment programme for the renewal of our industrial network and attainment of ambitious environmental targets. Other targets include Italgen, the Italcementi Group company that produces energy entirely from renewable sources. The Italcementi investment plan has also seen a technical upgrade at the Matera cement plant.
Products manufactured in Rezzato include white cement and the basic material for a new biodynamic cement to be used to construct the external structure of Palazzo Italia at Expo 2015. The Rezzato production facility currently employs 118 people and provides work for an additional 160 people in ancillary industries.
Buzzi Unicem and Wietersdorfer deal completed
01 August 2014Italy/Slovenia: Buzzi Unicem has completed a strategic agreement with Austria's Wietersdorfer & Peggauer, which was initially announced in February 2014. Under the terms of the deal, W&P Cementi, Wietersdorfer & Peggauer's Italian subsidiary, has acquired Buzzi Unicem's 0.3Mt/yr cement plant in Cadola, Belluno Province, Italy. W&P Cementi has also won the right to purchase Buzzi Unicem's 0.4Mt/yr cement plant in Travesio, Pordenone Province, Italy within the next five years for Euro22m. At the same time, Buzzi Unicem has paid Euro22m for a 25% stake in W&P Cementi and a 25% stake in Salonit Anhovo, Wietersdorfer & Peggauer's Slovenian subsidiary.
Italy: Cementir Holding has confirmed that its 2014 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) will exceed Euro180m after posting annual growth of 26.4% in the first half of 2014.
Cementir reported EBITDA of Euro78.4m in the first half of 2014, up from Euro62m in the same period of 2013. Revenues inched up to Euro473m from Euro472m, with sales in Turkey, Scandinavia and the Far East offsetting weaker sales in Italy and Egypt. Net profit rose to Euro20.5m from Euro7.4m in the first half of 2013.
The exchange rates on the foreign markets affected sales in Euros. The currency depreciations to the euro, on the other hand, helped Cementir to cut its operating costs by Euro29.3m from the end of June 2013 to Euro386m at the end of June 2014. Cementir's net financial debt went up by Euro30m from December 2013 to Euro355m at 30 June 2014, as a result of plant maintenance, dividend distribution and changes in working capital.
For 2014, Cementir expects the growth trends in Scandinavia, Turkey and the Far East to continue, while it is difficult to predict the performance in Egypt due to the political and social unrest.
Italcementi completes a Euro500m capital increase
09 July 2014Italy: Italcementi has fully completed a capital increase worth Euro500m. Investors subscribed 103.6 million new shares within an issue approved by the board of directors on 6 March 2014. During the offer period, investors exercised rights for the subscription of 99.42% of the new shares for Euro497m. Under a subscription agreement, Italmobiliare spent Euro225m on the transaction.
Italy: FLSmidth Ventomatic SpA a supplier of complete plants and single machines for high-accuracy and high-capacity storage, packaging and dispatching of products for the cement and building material industry, has strengthened its position in the minerals and chemical industries through the consolidation of its partnerships Imeco(R) and Italmeccanica, both with long-standing experience in the packaging of powdery and granulated products.
Thanks to these two strong business partnerships, Ventomatic says that it is now in the position to 'design, manufacture and supply' bagging solutions that are specifically designed for the dosing and weighing of cement, dry mortars and other building materials and industrial minerals into valve bags, open mouth bags and fill, form and seal bags.
Italy/Egypt: Italcementi celebrated its 150th anniversary and 10 years of 'successful operations in Egypt' in March 2014. Director general of Italcementi, Giovanni Ferrario, said that the group's mission focused on 'product innovation, quality and opportunities for the future.' The new branding system, i.Nova, was presented at the event, a system that he said was, "The result of 15 years of research that rejuvenates the group's marketing strategy."
The company says that the i.Nova approach focuses on the client in a strategy that is no longer based on supplying a single product, but on the ability to offer solutions that can meet several different needs at the same time 'fast and efficiently.' ''Our industrial strategy centres around research, innovation and sustainability, values that are necessary for competitiveness,'' said Ferrario.
Cementir Holding reports sluggish revenue in 2013
12 March 2014Italy: Cementir Holding has reported a revenue of Euro989m in 2013, a 1% increase year-on-year from the Euro976m reported in 2013. Sales of grey and white cement fell slightly by 1% to 9.74Mt in 2013. Despite this, net profit rose by 144% to Euro40.1m and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 22.9% to Euro170m.
"Despite the modest increase in revenues, profitability improved significantly. Cementir Holding ended 2013 with EBITDA above the target set at the start of the year, despite the sharp downturn in the Turkish and Egyptian currencies," said Francesco Caltagirone Jr, Chairman and CEO of Cementir Holding.
By region the Italy-based cement producer reported revenue rises in Scandinavia, Turkey and in the Far East. Revenues fell by 15% in Egypt and by 13.6% in Italy.
In its outlook Cementir Holding expects to see continued revenue growth in Scandinavia, Turkey and the Far East in 2014 and an improvement in profitability in Italy amidst continued market weakness. It does not expect the situation to improve in Egypt during 2014.
Buzzi Unicem sells cement plant to Wietersdorfer unit for Euro22m
19 February 2014Italy: Buzzi Unicem has agreed to sell its 0.3Mt/yr cement plant in Cadola, Italy, to a subsidiary of Wietersdorfer for Euro22m. Under the terms of the agreement, Austria's Wietersdorfer will be also entitled to buy, within five years and without additional payment, Buzzi Unicem's Travesio 0.4Mt/yr cement plant.
Italian cement producer Buzzi Unicem has also agreed to buy 25% in two Wietersdorfer facilities. In particular, the company will acquire shares in W&P Cementi and Salonit Anhovo Gradbeni Materiali for Euro22m. W&P Cementi currently has a grinding plant in Pordenone, Italy with a production capacity of 0.3Mt/yr. Salonit owns an integrated cement plantin Slovenia with a production capacity of 1.3Mt/yr.
With these transactions, Buzzi Unicem expects to strengthen its production and sales structure by improving its procurement logistics, it said adding that the deals will result in technological integration between the two companies aiming to develop new products. The transactions are expected to close on 30 June 2014.