Gypsum industry news

US: Lone Star Funds has agreed to sell 4 million shares of common stock in Continental Building Products (CBP) through an underwritten secondary offering. Based on the closing price of CBP's common stock on 9 September 2015, the offering is valued at approximately US$85.2m. The underwriter has a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 600,000 shares of common stock from the selling stockholder. Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC is acting as the underwriter for the offering, which is expected to close on 16 September 2015.

US: Continental Building Products has announced the appointment of Dennis Schemm as chief financial officer, effective from 11 May 2015.

"We are excited to welcome Schemm to our leadership team," said Jay Bachmann, Continental's CEO. "He has a proven history of experience, with more than 20 years in finance, including 16 years in senior management roles at publicly-traded industrial companies. His extensive and broad leadership capabilities will be instrumental to supporting our efforts as we further strengthen our low-cost position and generate additional cash flow as our end markets improve."

Schemm most recently served from 2013 to 2015 as vice president of global finance for Armstrong Flooring, a division of Armstrong Worldwide, where he oversaw the division's financial and accounting functions. From 2011 to 2013, Schemm served as director of global financial planning and analysis at Gilbarco Veeder Root, a Danaher Corporation, where he was responsible for operational and strategic planning and provided financial leadership for global operations and research and development.

US: Continental Building Products (CBP) has announced strong results for the fourth quarter of 2014 and the entirety of the year.

"Our results marked a solid year of progress for our company, allowing us to generate significant cash flows and dramatically improve our balance sheet," said Jay Bachmann, CBP's CEO. "The positive momentum in our business continued into the fourth quarter, with our net sales up by 5.6% and our adjusted EBITDA and operating income increasing by 15.6% and by 35.2%, respectively, reflecting favourable operating leverage driven by our low cost structure. During the full year 2014, we converted the majority of our adjusted EBITDA into free cash flow, which we used to reduce our long-term debt and strengthen our financial position. As we move into 2015, we believe that the construction markets will continue to recover and steadily improve. Amid that backdrop, we believe that our business is well-positioned to continue building on our progress by optimising our revenues and exercising strict cost controls to deliver improved returns and cash flows."

Net sales for the fourth quarter of 2014 were US$121m, up by 5.6% from US$114m in the fourth quarter of 2013. The increase in sales was primarily driven by 6.8% growth in the average mill net price. Wallboard volumes were 627Mft2 compared to 632Mft2 in the 2013 quarter, with flat US volumes offset by a single-digit percentage decline in Canada. Gross profit was US$31.7m, up by 28.6% compared to US$24.6m in the 2013 quarter. The gross margin of 26.2% increased from 21.5% in the prior year quarter, primarily as a result of higher average wallboard mill net prices and CBP's focus on leveraging its low cost structure.

Operating income was US$21.5m, up by 35.2% from US$15.9m in the 2013 quarter. Interest expenses were US$4.6m, down from US$8.2m in the 2013 quarter, reflecting a reduction in the long-term debt and a decrease in the interest rate on CBP's borrowings. Net income during the quarter was US$10.4m compared to US$6.7m in the 2013 quarter. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 15.6% to US$34.5m, compared to US$29.8m in the 2013 quarter.

Net sales for the enitrety of 2014 were US$425m, up by 5.5% from US$402m in 2013. Wallboard volumes increased by 0.9% to 2.18Bnft2 compared to 2.16Bnft2 in 2013. The average wallboard mill net price increased by 6.1% year-on-year. Gross profit was US$94.3m, up by 35.6% from US$69.5m in 2013. The gross margin of 22.2% was higher than the 17.3% margin of the prior year. Operating income was US$60.8m, up by 104% from US$29.8m in 2013. Interest expense was US$29.1m compared to US$23.4m in the prior year. Net income was US$15.9m compared to US$4.9m in 2013. Adjusted net income was US$23.8m compared to US$22.8m in 2013, excluding the impact of nonrecurring costs. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 12.2% to US$115m compared to US$103m in 2013. During the full year of 2014, CBP generated operating cash flow of US$78m, incurred US$5.7m of capital expenditures and used cash on hand for the repayment of US$65.6m of debt.

US: Continental Building Products (CBP) has appointed James 'Jay' Bachmann to the position of president and CEO, effective immediately. Bachmann has served as interim CEO since November 2014 and CFO since January 2014. He will continue to serve as CFO in an interim role, pending the appointment of a permanent CFO.

CBP has also announced the appointment of Dennis Romps to the position of chief accounting officer (CAO). Romps will also continue to serve as senior vice president and corporate controller, positions he has held since January 2014.

Bachmann formerly served as CFO at Lafarge USA and co-chief financial officer of Lafarge North America from November 2012 through December 2013. He also held multiple executive responsibilities at Lafarge since 2002, including senior vice president of finance (Investor Relations) of Lafarge SA from January 2008 through October 2012 and senior vice president and controller of Lafarge North America from November 2005 to June 2006. Prior to Lafarge, he worked at Arthur Anderson from September 1990 to April 2002.

Romps previously served as CBP's CFO from August 2013 to December 2013. He formerly served as co-chief financial officer of Lafarge North America from December 2006 until August 2013, while also holding a variety of vice president positions in finance, IT and supply chain of the gypsum division of Lafarge North America from 2005 until August 2013.

US: Continental Building Products (CBP) has announced its results for the third quarter that ended 30 September 2014. CBP's net sales grew by 8.6% year-on-year to US$114m, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 32% year-on-year to US$33.7m and operating income was up from US$0.3m in the same period of 2013 to US$20.2m. Its wallboard sales volumes grew by 3.8% year-on-year to 590Mft² and sales prices rose by 6.3% year-on-year.

"Our focus on operational excellence and maximising our returns from our low cost base was evident in our third quarter results," said Ike Preston, CBP's CEO. "As we finish 2014 and look to the new year, we remain focused on realising the full potential of our business. We are confident that the long-term fundamentals for construction growth remain strong and we remain focused on delivering value to our customers while actively managing our costs and continuing to deploy our capital in a disciplined manner to drive shareholder value."

US: Continental Building Products (CBP) has announced that its secondary public offering of 7,000,000 shares of common stock, which was announced earlier this week, will be priced at US$14.75/share. All of the shares are being sold by its largest stockholder, an affiliate of Lone Star Funds. The underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,050,000 shares of common stock from the selling stockholder. The offering is expected to close on 25 November 2014.

US: Continental Building Products (CBP) has announced the launch of a secondary public offering of 7,000,000 shares of common stock to be offered by the company's largest stockholder, an affiliate of Lone Star Funds. The underwriters will have a 30-day option from the date of the offering to purchase up to an additional 1,050,000 shares of common stock from the selling stockholder. CBP will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the shares.

US: Continental Building Products (CBP) has announced its results for the second quarter of 2014, which ended on 30 June 2014. Net sales increased by 3.2% to US$103m and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell to US$26.7m from US$27.4m for the same period of 2013.

"During the second quarter we continued to grow our net sales, generate significant cash flow and strengthen our balance sheet," said Ike Preston, CBP's CEO. "Excluding the impact of higher freight costs, our average mill net pricing remained firm compared to the first quarter 2014, as expected. Our overall modest wallboard demand was supported by higher shipments in our US operations that grew by 3.1% compared to 2013. As we look to the remainder of 2014, we remain confident in our ability to maintain disciplined cost control and generate additional cash flow as demand improves."

Average gypsum wallboard prices rose by 4.1% during the quarter. Wallboard volumes rose slightly to 525Mft² compared to 523Mft² in the same quarter of 2013, with a 3.1% increase in US volumes mostly offset by lower volumes in Canada. The second quarter gross profit was significantly impacted by purchase accounting from the acquisition by Lone Star. Gross profit was US$20.9m, down compared to US$25.7m in the same quarter of 2013, primarily as a result of US$7.8m in higher depreciation and amortisation costs from the acquisition.

Operating income was US$12.8m in the second quarter of 2014, down from US$17.2m in the prior year quarter, largely attributable to the impact of higher depreciation and amortisation resulting from the Lone Star acquisition. Net income was US$4.7m for the second quarter of 2014, compared to US$16.7m in the prior year quarter.