Displaying items by tag: Spain
Cemex España agrees downsizing
04 March 2013Spain: On 4 March 2013 Cemex España, the Spanish subsidiary of Mexican cement group Cemex, reached an agreement with Spanish trade unions to reduce the number of employees who will be affected by the planned downsizing plan. The staff reduction measure now will affect 127 people instead of the initially planned 156 people.
CPV and CRH swap assets
26 February 2013Spain/Ireland/UK: On 26 February 2013 Irish buildings materials supplier CRH plc announced that it and Spanish cement business Cementos Portland Valderrivas SA (CVP) had reached an agreement, effective immediately, regarding an asset swap in relation to certain Spanish assets.
CRH will transfer its 26% stake in Corporacion Uniland SA to CPV. In return, CPV will transfer its 99% stake in Cementos Lemona SA to CRH. CRH will also acquire Southern Cement Ltd, a cement importation business, based in Ipswich, UK as part of the transaction. As part of the transaction CRH and CPV will terminate all legal disputes with each other.
Cemex announces second round of job cuts in Spain
30 January 2013Spain: Mexican cement company Cemex is currently preparing a second downsizing plan for its workforce in Spain. Over the 30 days to 28 February 2012 the company is expected to negotiate with the trade unions the dismissal of up to 156 employees out of a total of 1077 employees in Spain.
The move is in line with the flagging demand as well as with Cemex's strategic plan to adapt its production capacity. At the end of 2012 Cemex cut 290 jobs in Spain in a first round of job-cuts.
FCC names Juan Bejar as new CEO
16 January 2013Spain: The board of directors at Spanish construction group FCC will propose in the following days the appointment of Juan Bejar CEO to replace Baldomero Falcones who occupied the position for five years, according to Spanish business newspaper Expansion.
At present Bejar is a chairman at FCC's subsidiary Cementos Portland Valderrivas and Globalvia, in which FCC is a partner of Bankia. He was also a chairman at Citigroup Infrastructure Management and CEO at Ferrovial Infraestructuras and Cintra.
The new CEO will take his position in a moment when FCC is focused on a restructuring process, aimed at meeting the fall of the traditional business, the difficulties of the cement subsidiary and Austrian unit Alpine as well as the need to repay Euro1.6bn debt.
Spain: Cementos Molins has sold 10.61% in its Argentina-based unit Cementos Avellaneda to Votorantim Europe for Euro45.2m. Following the deal Cementos Molins retains 51% in the company and Votorantim Europe, part of Brazilian group Votorantim, is holds 49%. The Spanish firm also transferred a 12.61% stake in its Uruguayan-based unit Cementos Artigas to Votorantim Europe for Euro19m, keeping 49% in the subsidiary and its partner raised its stake to 51%.
Spanish cement consumption drops by a third in 2012
18 December 2012Spain: Cement consumption in Spain will close 2012 with a drop of 33% year-on-year, the fifth double-digit decline in a row, according to data from the country's association of cement producers Oficemen.
Oficemen expects that the demand will also shrink by 20% in 2013, until it reaches the levels similar to those in Morocco and Ecuador. Spanish cement consumption was at a 48-year low after the first half of 2012.
Meanwhile, the Spanish cement and building materials producer Sociedad de Cementos y Materiales de Construccion de Andalucia, controlled by Portuguese cement group Cimpor, is negotiating the lay-off of 35 staff with its employees and trade unions. The proposed move will affect 25 staff at its plant in Cordoba and 10 employees at a factory in Niebla.
Cemex changes downsizing plans after deal with unions
27 November 2012Spain: Cemex España, the Spanish unit of Mexican cement company Cemex, will launch a downsizing plan for 280 employees, down from the initial intention to cut 370 jobs. The 25% reduction came as a result of an agreement reached between the company's management and trade unions.
The employees to be affected by the staff-reduction measure account for 16% of all of Cemex's 1740 employees in Spain at present. The laid-off employees will receive severance pays of 30 days per every year of work but not more than 22 monthly salaries.
Cemex's adjustment has had to be carried out due to the continued low demand for cement in the country. Cemex reported a 19% drop in its sales in Spain in 2011. The country is the company's third largest market in terms of the number of cement production plants after Mexico and the USA.
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.
CPV ramps up loss 10-fold
14 November 2012Spain: Cementos Portland Valderrivas (CPV) has posted a loss of Euro83m for the first nine months of 2012, almost 10 times the loss for the same period in 2011. The negative performance was attributed to the weak demand in Spain, which could not be offset by the activities abroad. CPV's turnover totalled Euro505m, of which Euro253.6m was generated in the domestic market and Euro251.4m came from abroad. Cement demand in Spain fell by 34.6% over the period, while in the company's two main foreign markets, the USA and Tunisia, it rose by 9.8% and 11%, respectively.
Cementos Molins ups profit by 85% so far in 2012
31 October 2012Spain: Spanish cement company Cementos Molins has reported a net profit of Euro31m for the nine months to September 2012, an increase of 85% compared to the same period in 2011. In a regulatory filing the company attributed the increase to its international operations.
The foreign units of the company recorded a net profit of a total Euro55m while the domestic subsidiaries registered a combined loss of Euro24m. Cementos Molins' turnover was Euro688m from January to September 2012, a rise of 12.6% year-on-year.
Sales abroad grew by 23% to Euro550.4m while domestic sales fell by 15.7% to Euro138m due to a significant reduction in demand. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 43% in Euro159m. The company's net debt was Euro349m at the end of September 2012, a reduction of Euro49m from December 2011.