BUSINESSHIGHLIGHTS
SWITZERLAND
Holcim and Lafarge
renegotiate terms
Share exchange ratio adjusted asBruno Lafont
steps aside asCEO-designate
H
olcimandLafargehaveagreed revised terms for theirproposedmerger.
The deal will see Lafarge rolled into Holcim by means of a share
exchange. However, instead of the original one-to-one swap, the new
ratiowill be nineHolcim shares for tenLafarge shares.
In addition, current Lafarge chairman&CEOBrunoLafont will not now
head the new group as CEO.Hewill be co-chair with currentHolcim chair
Wolfgang Reitzle. The CEO for the new business will be nominated by
Lafarge at a future date andhas tobe approvedbyHolcim.
The changes to the deal follow a letter fromHolcim to Lafarge lastmonth
inwhich the Swiss company said it wanted to renegotiate the exchange ratio
andproposed leadershipof the company.
The rise in the valueof theSwiss Franc, alongwithHolcim’s better financial
performance during 2014 had meant the company had risen in value
compared towhen theoriginal dealwas struck a year ago.This hadprompted
keyHolcim shareholders topress for improvedmerger terms.
CANADA
Revenues affected
Aecon’s revenues for 2014 were
down -15% to CA$ 2.61 billion
(US$ 2.09 billion). Its net profit
more than halved from CA$ 47.8
million (US$ 38.3million) last year
to CA$ 21.8 million (US$ 17.5
million) in2014.
However, the company won an
“unprecedented” CA$ 3.5 billion
(US$ 2.8 billion) of new contracts
last year, which improved its
outlook. Its backlog stood at CA$
2.65 billion (US$ 2.13 billion) at
the end of the 2014 – almost +50%
higher than12months previously.
SWITZERLAND
Offer ruling
The Swiss Takeover Board (TOB)
has ruled the Burkard-Schenker
family can accept an offer for its
controlling stake in Sika from
Saint-Gobain, without the French
materials giant having to make an
offer to acquire all the shares in the
company.
However, the TOB has not ruled
on whether the deal is abusive, and
says it will only do so, should the
proposed transaction go ahead.
The Burkard-Schenker family
controls Sika through a holding
company,
Schenker-Winkler
Holding, which owns 16.4% of
Sika’s capital, but commands 52.6%
of its voting rights. In December,
Saint-Gobain
announced
a
CHF 2.75 billion (US$ 2.8 billion)
deal tobuy this controlling stake.
NETHERLANDS
Resultsdelayed
Ballast Nedam has withdrawn
its previous profits forecast for
2014, and will delay its results
announcement until 24April.
The company said the decision
was due to new losses on two road
buildingprojects in theNetherlands.
It had said in November that it
would make an operating loss of
€ 35million (US$37.9million), to
€ 45million (US$ 48.7million)for
2014, but now says full-year results
will be worse than this. It added it
still had the support of its banking
syndicate.
VALUEOF 1:
SYMBOL AU$
BRL
UK£ CNY
€
INR
YEN MXN RUR SAR
ZAR KRW CHF
US$
AustralianDollar
AU$
0.40 0.516 4.74 0.704 47.7
92
11.62 44.1
2.86
9.27
844 0.736 0.763
BrazilianReal
BRL
2.49
0.207 1.91 0.283 19.2
36.8
4.67
17.7
1.15
3.73
339 0.296 0.307
BritishPound
UK£
1.94
4.82
9.2
1.36
92.5
177
22.5
85.4
5.55
18.0
1636 1.43
1.48
Chinese Yuan
CNY
0.211 0.525 0.109
0.148 10.07 19.3
2.45
9.30 0.604 1.957
178 0.155 0.161
Euro
€
1.42
3.53
0.73
6.73
67.8
130
16.5
62.6
4.07 13.18 1199 1.05
1.08
IndianRupee
INR
0.021 0.052 0.011 0.099 0.015
1.9
0.244 0.924 0.0600 0.194 17.7 0.0154 0.0160
Japanese Yen
YEN
0.011 0.027 0.006 0.052 0.008 0.521
0.1269 0.482 0.0313 0.1013 9.2 0.0080 0.0083
MexicanPeso
MXN
0.086 0.214 0.044 0.408 0.061 4.11
7.88
3.79 0.246 0.798
73
0.063 0.0657
RussianRuble
RUR
0.023 0.056 0.012 0.108 0.016 1.08
2.08 0.264
0.065 0.210 19.1 0.0167 0.0173
Saudi Riyal
SAR
0.349 0.869 0.180 1.656 0.246 16.667 31.971 4.059 15.400
3.24
295 0.257 0.267
SouthAfricanRand ZAR
0.108 0.268 0.056 0.511 0.076 5.144 9.867 1.253 4.753 0.309
91
0.079 0.082
SouthKoreanWon KRW
0.0012 0.0029 0.0006 0.0056 0.0008 0.0565 0.1084 0.0138 0.0522 0.0034 0.0110
0.00087 0.0009
Swiss Franc
CHF
1.36
3.38
0.70
6.44
0.96 64.83 124.37 15.79 59.91 3.89 12.60 1147
1.037
USDollar
US$
1.31 3.258 0.676 6.209 0.922 62.5 119.9 15.22 57.75 3.75 12.15 1105.84 0.964
For exampleUS$ 1=AU$ 1.31
Exchange rates: March 2015
CHINA
Lafarge has acquired the 45%
stake held by Shui OnConstruction
AndMaterials (SOCAMDevelopment)
in Lafarge Shui OnCement. The deal,
worthHK$ 2.55 billion (US$330
million), is subject to the completion of
Lafarge’smerger withHolcim. Lafarge
Shui OnCement has facilities in
SouthWest China, in the provinces of
Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou and the city
of Chongqing, inSichuan Province.
UK
Full-year losses at Balfour Beatty
have included a further UK£118million
(US$ 175million) write-down in its UK
construction business. However, the
company’s international construction
revenueswer up+24% at constant
exchange rates toUK£1 billion (US$
1.48 billion), predominantly as a result
of a joint venture inHongKong.
NETHERLANDS
VanOord’s 2014
revenueswere up+28%, to a record
€
2.1 billion (US$ 2.27 billion). The
company’s net profit for 2014was
€
119million (US$ 129million),
comparedwith
€
130million (US$
141million) for 2013. Its order book
increased to a record
€
3.2 billion
(US$ 3.5 billion) at the end of 2014,
compared to
€
1.9 billion (US$2.06
billion) at the end of 2013.
US
CNH Industrial’s sales of
construction equipment came to
US$ 3.35 billion last year, an increase
of +2.7% on 2013. Operating profit
from the divisionwas US$ 79million,
compared to the loss of US$97million
recorded in 2013.
international
construction
april 2015
BUSINESSNEWS
10
AUSTRALIA
Leighton seeksname changeapproval
Leighton Holdings is to seek
approval from shareholders to
change its name to CIMIC Group
(Construction
Infrastructure
Mining and Concessions). The
move follows a turbulent period for
the business in which it has faced
corruption allegations, a law suit
relating to a profit downgrade and
has reshaped the company through
a string of divestments.
A statement from Leighton said,
“The board considers that the
change of name is appropriate to
support the transformation to the
new operating model. The new
name intends to provide a better
representation of what we are and
do, and this will closely reflect our
core activities.”
The company's Board has
approved the name change, which
will be put to a vote at Leighton’s
AGM later thismonth.
