Portugal’s Semapa to reduce share capital

The Portuguese holding company Semapa, whose commercial interests include the cement sector, recorded exports of €1.17 billion in the first nine months of 2015, accounting for 74.5% of its turnover which stood at €1.57 billion - an increase of 6% compared to the same period of 2014. The company’s ebitda, which consolidates the business of Secil and Supremo (cement), Portucel (paper) and ETSA (environment), increased by 21% to €361.1 million. Profits dropped by 17.7% to €65.9 million.

It has emerged that Portuguese group Semapa has presented a project to the Portuguese Securities and Exchange Commission (CMVM) to create a holding company that will consolidate, under its umbrella, stakes owned by Portuguese groups in the national cement company Cimpor.

Building materials group CRH has been told to sell its stake in Secil to its joint venture partner, Portuguese industrial holding company Semapa. Secil is a Portuguese manufacturer of cement and ready-mixed concrete, and since October 2009, when CRH last made an announcement on this matter, CRH and Semapa have been engaged in arbitration proceedings to resolve disagreements between them. This culminated in an award by an Arbitral Tribunal in Paris, France, functioning under the Rules of Arbitration of the I