Auctions, Used Equipment, Rental & Finance

Cemex has announced the pricing of a US$650million reopening of its 9% senior secured notes which will be due in 2018. The notes were originally offered in January and secured US$1billion. The company has said that it intends to use the funds raised for corporate purposes and to restructure debt outstanding under its 14 August 2009 financing agreement. Cemex has said that this will allow the business to continue addressing its debt maturities ahead of schedule.

Credit rating agency Moody's has downgraded French cement group Lafarge's rating from Baa3 to Ba1, with a stable outlook. The move comes after it was put under surveillance on 2 August, 2011. The agencies Standard & Poors and Fitch have already given the French group a speculative grade. Meanwhile, Moody's has downgraded the outlook on Italian construction materials manufacturer Italcementi and on its controlled Italcementi Finance, as well as on the French subsidiary Ciments Francais to negative.

Sadi Servizi Industriali, which provides environmental remediation, waste management, engineering and building material services, has posted a consolidated net profit of €1.75 million for the first half of 2011. This compares to a net profit of €2.25 million in the same period of 2010. The Italian group's consolidated turnover dropped from €48.4 million to €45.08 million, while EBITDA fell from €7.13 million to €5.76 million.

Finnish construction group, Lemminkäinen, has reported net sales of €550 million in the second quarter of 2011, up from €460 million in the same period of 2010. The group's operating profit amounted to €20.6 million, which was up from €19.5 million in the second quarter of 2010. Earnings before taxes amounted to €16.1 million in the second quarter of 2011, which was up from €14.6 million a year earlier.

Titan Cement of Greece has seen its revenues drop by 43.3% decrease in the first half of 2011 to €116.90 million, and a 39.7% drop in its EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amorisation) interest to €28.3 million, while its net profits fell by 98% to €300,000 compared with the corresponding period in 2010. At group level its revenues dropped by 18.2% to €557 million, while its EBITDA fell by 12.4% to €141.4 million and its net profits decreased by 65.7% to €23.4 million.

Italian construction material specialist Buzzi Unicem has posted a 9.1% year-on-year increase in turnover to €1.34 billion in the first half of 2011. However, the company’s net profits fell by 29.8% to €11.9 million, with EBITDA down 3.2% to €183.1 million. The drop in profitability has been attributed to high production costs and poor price levels. Buzzi Unicem's debts increased to €1.26 billion.

The debt due to undergo refinance, which is 60% of the company’s gross debt, is associated with repayments linked to the purchase of WRG, Uniland and Alpine. FCC has already sold its car parking and MOT businesses, and is looking to raise €450million from the sale of its US cement firms.

Pupils who took part in a road safety campaign run by building materials manufacturer Lafarge Aggregates & Concrete UK, now have a standout souvenir. Schoolchildren at Roundhill Community College in Thurmaston, County Leicestershire, central England, collected bright orange hoodies from Lafarge staff as the culmination of the pioneering project. The hoodie was the winning entry in a competition challenging youngsters to come up with a piece of high visibility clothing or accessory.

IronPlanet, an online market for used heavy equipment, is to host its first onsite and online auction in February in Florida, USA. The auction from 21- 24 February, will be at the Fantasy of Flight attraction near Orlando. “With equipment onsite, both our global bidders as well as the buyers located in Florida will be able to take advantage of our online auctions and exclusive IronClad Assurance, resulting in better prices for the equipment we sell,” says Greg Owens, chairman and CEO of IronPlane