
Displaying items by tag: Italy
Italcementi shareholders elect new board
24 April 2013Italy: At their annual general meeting held in Bergamo, the shareholders of Italcementi SpA elected the Board of Directors for the next three years, until approval of the financial statements for 2015.
The members of the new Board are Pierfranco Barabani, Giorgio Bonomi, Fritz Burkard, Victoire de Margerie Federico Falck, Lorenzo Renato Guerini, Italo Lucchini, Emma Marcegaglia, Sebastiano Mazzoleni, Jean Paul Méric Carlo Pesenti, Giampiero Pesenti, Carlo Secchi, Elena Zambon (all elected from the majority list presented by Italmobiliare SpA) and Giulio Antonello (a candidate from the minority list presented by First Eagle Global Fund).
Italy: Italian cement producer Italcementi plans to stop production at three of its Italian cement plants, bringing the total of its dormant plants in the country to nine. Italcementi director general Giovanni Battista Ferrario made the announcement at a shareholders' meeting, blaming the move on overcapacity in the face of a huge slump in domestic demand
The company expects to save Euro110m through the closures as part of an efficiency drive. It posted losses of Euro362m in 2012, most of it due to poor Italian demand. Lay-offs for over a quarter of Italian staff were announced in December 2012. It said the Italian market "continues to be marked by productive over-capacity compared to a demand that has dropped to the levels last seen at the end of the 1970s."
Italcementi had 17 operational plants in 2012. It has since then sold one and halted production at five others. However, CEO Carlo Pesenti told the meeting that the company plans to invest up to Euro150m on upgrades at its Rezzato plant and has plans to develop its Calusco plant.
Buzzi Unicem profit plummets by 96% in 2012
03 April 2013Italy: Italian cement producer Buzzi Unicem has seen its net profit fall by 96% to Euro2m in 2012 from Euro54.8m in 2011. The company attributed the fall to a penalisation by impairment of fixed assets and deferred tax assets adjustment.
Buzzi Unicem's net sales remained stagnant at Euro2.81bn in 2012 compared to Euro2.79bn in 2011. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 4.8% to Euro455m form 434m. Net debt was reduced by 18% to Euro1.12bn from Euro1.14bn. In 2012, the group sold 27.3Mt of cement, down by 3.4% from 2011.
In Italy the company saw cement and clinker volumes decline by 20% in 2012. This was the highest annual percentage decrease since the Second World War. In Central Europe cement sales also declined. In Eastern Europe cement volumes declined in Poland, Czech Republic and Ukraine but sales increased by 15% in Russia. In the US demand 'rebounded' but Buzzi Unicem declined to provide any details for its cement business. Finally, in Mexico cement sales volumes rose by 6.2% in 2012.
For its outlook in 2013 Buzzi Unicem expects to see continued growth in the US and Russia, on-going problems in Italy and a stable situation overall in other territories.
Buzzi revenue stagnates despite lower sales
13 February 2013Italy: Buzzi Unicem has announced that its revenue for 2012 rose by 0.9% to Euro2.81bn. The positive impact of currency exchange rates helped compensate for falling cement volumes. The firm said in a statement that it expected a recurring earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of about Euro450m in 2012, in line with its previous estimates.
The company will shortly start a squeeze-out procedure on its German unit Dyckerhoff, of which it owns already 96.6%. The procedure will be completed in 2013 and lead to delisting of the German firm.
Italcementi revenue falls by 3.8% to Euro4.48bn in 2012
06 February 2013Italy: Italcementi has reported that its revenue fell by 3.8% to Euro4.48bn in 2012 from Euro4.68bn in 2011. It blamed the fall on the continued effects of the economic crisis on demand for construction materials in Western Europe.
Sales volumes of cement and clinker principally fell in the group's Central & Western Europe region, by 16.1% to 16Mt in 2012. Volumes also fell by 4.5% to 14.9Mt in the group's Emerging Europe, North Africa and Middle East region. North America grew by 0.3% to 4.2Mt and Asia grew by 8% to 10.1Mt. Notably sales volumes increased across all regions in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Revenue by business line for cement and clinker fell by 3% to Euro2.90bn in 2012 from Euro2.99bn in 2011. Revenue by geographical area for the group's two declining regions represented 76% of the group's total of Euro4.48m in 2012.
In its press release the Italian based multinational cement producer added that it reduced its net financial debt by approximately Euro100m in 2012 to Euro1.99bn, helped by cash flow improvements and an investment policy focused on industrial and environmental efficiency. It added the during 2012 the group introduced measures to rationalise its production network. These include the '2015 Project' for the Italian market, announced in December 2012, which will have a positive annual effect of approximately Euro40m when fully implemented.
Cementir increases revenues by 4.6% to Euro976m in 2012
06 February 2013Italy: Italian cement maker Cementir Holding increased its revenue by 4.6% to Euro976m in 2012. Cementir's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 11.1% to Euro138m. However, sales volumes of grey and white cement fell by 6% to 9.85Mt in 2012 from 10.47Mt in 2011.
In its financial statement Cementir attributed its positive performance to the good development in prices across all of the company's geographic areas, although at a much slower pace of growth in the Scandinavian countries and in Turkey. Volumes of cement and clinker fell in 2012 due to the slowdown in the Italian and Egyptian markets and, to a lesser extent, the decline in exports from Turkey. This was partly offset by the positive performance posted in the Far East, thanks in part to the new capacity of a Chinese plant, now in its second full year of operation
For 2013 Cementir expects its financial performance to improve and its debt to diminish. A positive trend of white cement sales in China and positive performance in Egypt and Malaysia are expected to offset the expected contraction in Italy. In Turkey, growth should be modest as a result of the contraction in the residential construction market, although investment in infrastructure should remain high. The 2013 revenues are expected to beat Euro1bn and the EBITDA to exceed Euro150m. Cementir also launched a project to improve the profitability of its operations in various countries, which is expected to save Euro30m as of 2014.
Italcementi announces lay-off schemes for 26% of Italian staff
14 December 2012Italy: The Italian cement maker Italcementi has prepared a plan to reorganise its activities in Italy, to be implemented in 2013 and 2014. It envisages layoff schemes for up to 665 employees.
At present the company employs 2500 staff, of whom two-thirds are employed at its production sites. The remainder work at the company's headquarters in Bergamo.
The plan, dubbed 'Project 2015,' aims to rationalise the industrial and distribution structure of the group and reorganise the central structures and commercial network. The plan targets to reduce costs by around Euro40m/yr.
Buzzi purchases more of Dyckerhoff
26 November 2012Italy/Germany: German cement maker Dyckerhoff has announced that its parent company, Italy's Buzzi Unicem, has agreed to buy additional ordinary and preferred shares in it, raising its total share capital in the firm by 3.6% to 96.6%.
The German company did not reveal the value of the transaction but specified that during the current year and including the most recent agreement Buzzi Unicem had bought shares in it for some Euro71.7m.
As a shareholder of at least 95% of Dyckerhoff, Buzzi Unicem is entitled, under the German law, to start a 'squeeze-out' procedure for the remaining shares that it does not already own. However, it has not yet made any final decision on such a move, according to Dyckerhoff.
Grim and grimmer: European cement production so far in 2012
14 November 2012The results are in from the European cement majors and the news from the Mediterranean producers is grim. A common phrase found in most of these financial reports was the 'challenging economic environment' in western Europe. Here's what this means.
In Spain, Cemex saw its net sales in its Mediterranean region (consisting mainly of Spain) slump by 17% to Euro1.10bn. Cementos Portland Valderrivas (CPV) posted a loss of Euro83m for the first nine months of 2012, almost 10 times the loss for the same period in 2011. In July 2012 the Spanish cement association Oficement noted that demand had fallen by 60% year-on-year.
In Italy, Italcementi reported a 92% crash in net profit, to Euro17.1m, for the first nine months of 2012, and a drop in revenue of 4%, to Euro3.39bn, for the first nine months of 2012. Buzzi Unicem reported a 21% decline in sales volumes of cement and clinker, and a drop in sales of 15% to Euro430m. Vicat reported that Italian sales across all its business lines were down by 9% for the year.
By contrast, beleaguered Greek producer Titan has finally started to show a (slight) increase in its revenue. It has been able to report a second consecutive quarter where turnover has risen year-on-year. Although Titan's net profit for the same period still plummeted by 96% to Euro2m.
Elsewhere progress of a kind is being made despite the ongoing European slump, mainly due to profitable assets held outside of western Europe.
Lafarge reported that its overall sales were up by 4% to Euro4.39bn in 2012 so far. Yet its income has fallen by 44% to Euro332m and its profits are suffering from its restructuring programme. In western Europe Lafarge noted that cement volumes were down by 11% to 12.5Mt so far in 2012 and that sales were down by 9% to Euro2.43bn.
Holcim reported a 5% increase in overall net sales and a 7% increase in operating profits to Euro1.57bn. In western Europe Holcim's sales volumes were down by 4.6% (like-for-like) to 20.1Mt and sales were down by 6% to Euro3.68bn.
HeidelbergCement reported a 2.5% increase in overall sales but pre-tax profits have fallen by 5% to Euro601m. HeidelbergCement's revenue from its cement business in western and northern Europe was down by 5% to Euro1.3bn. Buzzi Unicem reported overall flat sales at Euro2.15bn but net profit rose by 50% to Euro85m. Despite this Buzzi Unicem reported a drop of 8.5% in Germany.
Vicat reported little change in sales at Euro1.73bn for the year so far. Vicat's financial reporting made it hard to tell how much was lost in Europe but French cement sales were noted as being down by 12%. Cemex's sales volumes were down by 13% in northern Europe, with net sales down by 15% to Euro3.09bn. Italcementi's cement sales volumes in central and western Europe fell by 16.8% to 12.2Mt.
Of the major producers only Lafarge failed to state the obvious in its outlook about western Europe: that sales will continue to decline in 2012 and 2013. If Titan has set the bar for how much more pain the other European producers have yet to face then conditions are likely to get worse. Get ready for even more 'challenges' in 2013.
Buzzi profit bucks trend with increase
14 November 2012Italy: Buzzi Unicem has posted a net profit of Euro85m for the first nine months of 2012, a 40.4% increase year-on-year. Buzzi's net sales grew by 1.7% to Euro2.15bn and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 11.7% to Euro368.7m. Its net debt fell to Euro1.10bn at the end of June 2012 from Euro1.14bn at the end of 2011.
On the basis of the results in the year so far, the company has raised its EBITDA guidance for 2012 to Euro450m.