Gypsum industry news

Belgium: Jean-Pierre Hanin joined Etex as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) on 1 September 2013. He succeeds Frédéric Deslypere, who becomes Division Director Latin America.

Hanin, age 47, has held various executive functions in the Belgian Lhoist Group, a producer of lime and dolomite. Following several years as CFO, he became its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in 2011. Prior to Lhoist, he worked as an attorney in different law firms. In his function as CFO of Etex, Jean-Pierre Hanin will be a member of the Executive Committee.

Frédéric Deslypere, age 51, started as working for Etex as a Legal Advisor in 1991 and built up experience as Group Tax Advisor, as Finance Director for the Central & Eastern Europe Division and as Secretary General of Etex, responsible for legal and tax matters. In the past five years, Frédéric held the function of CFO at Etex. In his new role he will continue to be part of the Executive Committee. Deslypere will succeed the existing Division Director Latin America, Jorge Bennett, on 1 December 2013 after a handover period.

Canada: Bob Bruce of Innogyps has announced that Robert Morrow has joined Innogyps as a partner. Innogyps says that Rob brings with him North American, European and Australasian regional experience and gypsum and construction products business experience with CertainTeed (BPB), Genstar Corporation and Arthur Young (Ernst & Young).

In addition to his undergraduate degree in commerce, Rob is a chartered accountant and has operations experience in supply chain and mining, business strategy and leadership development. Inogyps says that his diverse set of skills will assist Mark Flumiani and the rest of the team in providing an organisation to meet customer needs.

US: The Gypsum Association, the gypsum industry association for North America, has announced that Stephen H Meima has assumed the position of Deputy Executive Director / Chief Operating Officer. The association said that, in this role, Maima would help strengthen the organisation as the gypsum wallboard industry's pre-eminent resource for leadership, education and objective expertise.

"I'm looking forward to working closely with Gypsum Association Executive Director Michael Gardner, the Board of Directors and committees and the staff to promote the value and sustainability of gypsum board and gypsum panel products," said Meima. "I am, indeed, eager to help advance the development, growth and general welfare of the gypsum industry in the US and Canada."

Michael Gardner praised Meima's extensive background in marketing and building materials management. "This position will contribute significantly to the Gypsum Association's ability to meet the challenges of representing a building materials industry as the economy continues to recover," said Gardner. "Steve's strong industry background and his experience in sustainability issues impart a substantial talent to our organisation."

Belgium: Etex Group has reported that its net profit fell by 63% year-on-year to Euro69m for the fist six months of 2013 from Euro89m for the same period in 2012. Sales fell by 6.5% to Euro1.48bn from Euro1.59bn. Etex's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 13.9% to Euro190m from Euro221m. The building materials group blamed a harsh winter in Europe and weak market conditions.

"Bad winter conditions in Europe affected our half year results, particularly in Eastern Europe. Etex continues its debt reduction programme by selling non-used assets and divesting non-core businesses. At the same time, we are investing in promising growth markets," said CEO of Etex, Fons Peeters.

In early August 2013 Etex announced that it was investing Euro25m in Siniat's French polystyrene factories to strengthen its market position in polystyrene backed plasterboards. It also expected that its CO₂ emission would drop due to a shorter distance between production sites and the market.

For the remainder of 2013 Etex expects 'slightly' better results than in 2012 due to its growth in the dry construction market.

US: US private equity firm HIG Capital LLC said that its portfolio firm, gypsum and plaster products maker Harrison Gypsum LLC had bought the Eagle Ford unit of aggregate materials and soil stabilisation products supplier Pinnacle Materials LLC. Financial details were not revealed.

Thailand: BuilderSmart plc (BSM), which makes 51% of its revenue from gypsum products, aims to increase revenue to US$31.5m within the next two years after refocusing on its export markets, mainly India and Myanmar. The company said that the company projects revenue growth of 30%/yr and net profit growth of 50%/yr.

Vietnam: Gypsum and Cement JSC posted a net profit of US$173,900 in the first half of 2013, versus US$184,834 a year earlier. The company generated revenue of US$13.3m in the period, versus US$12.3m over the same period of 2012.

In the second-quarter of 2013, the company posted a US$112,800 net profit on US$7.5m revenue, compared to US$137,440 and US$7.3m a year before.

Australia: Boral's Asian profit for its gypsum division has fallen by 10% for its 2012 – 2013 financial year, which ended on 30 June 2013.

The Australian building materials manufacturer calculated that, in the first full year following its acquisition of all of Boral Gypsum Asia, its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) fell to US$51.2m from US$56.6m on a like-for-like basis. It blamed the decline on challenging conditions in South Korea and China, lower demand in Vietnam, plant ramp-off costs and the effects of lower capacity utilisation rates. However, on the same basis revenue for the subsidiary rose by 4% to US$502m in the period.

Boral's Australian gypsum division, Plasterboard Australia, saw its revenue fall by 5% to US$301m from US$316m. EBIT remained flat at US$22.5m.

"Boral Gypsum delivered softer underlying earnings in FY2013 due to cyclical challenges in some Asian markets and the cost impacts of investment ramp-ups in China and Indonesia. The business remains extremely well positioned for future earnings growth in Asia and Australia and has invested in three additional board lines that will increase net capacity in Asia by 16%," said Boral's chief executive officer and managing director, Mike Kane. For its gypsum businesses, Boral reported that capacity expansion projects at Chongqing, China (15Mm²/yr) and Ho Chi Minh City ,Vietnam (30Mm²/yr) have been delayed for completion in the second half of 2013 and early 2014 respectively.

Overall, Boral made a loss of US$192m for its 2012 – 2013 financial year. In the previous year it made a profit of US$160m. Its sales revenue rose by 5% to US$4.71bn from US$4.26bn in the prior year. Its profit after tax but before significant items rose by 3.2% to US$94.3m from US$91.4m. EBIT before significant items rose by 14% to US$206m from US$180m.

In the 2013 – 2014 financial year the division's performance is expected to remain strong, despite lower property sales and reduced major project work. However, overall the results in 2013 – 2014 are not expected to exceed those in 2012 – 2013.

Belarus: The Belarusian government has approved a decision to sell its entire 99.5% stake in OJSC Belgips to Russia's Volma Corporation according to Architecture and Construction Minister Anatoly Nichkasov. At a press conference reported upon by Russian News Agency Interfax, Nichkasov added that the government will sell its stake of the wallboard and gypsum partition block producer for to US$7m.

"This topic has been considered at the government level and it was approved in principle by the presidential administration. At the request of Russian company Volma, the government stake will be transferred to it once preparations of the investment contract are finished," the minister said. The sale is expected to be finalised in the third quarter of 2013.

The government intends to modernise Belgips' existing wallboard plant in Minsk, which was originally commissioned in 1948, and to build a new plant outside of Minsk with the sale. In addition, the sale will carry the agreement that the Volma will supply raw gypsum to the company at a reduced cost.

US: Eagle Materials has reported financial results for the first quarter of the 2014 fiscal year, which ended on 30 June 2013. It saw its revenue for the quarter increase to US$227m, an increase of 47% year-on-year and earnings before interest and income taxes were up by 109% to US$49.5m. Its net earnings were US$30.1m, a 115% rise from US$14m in the first quarter of the prior fiscal year.

Eagle's Gypsum Wallboard and Paperboard businesses reported first quarter operating earnings of US$35.3m, up 83% from the same quarter of the prior fiscal year. Improved gypsum wallboard net sales prices were the primary driver of the quarterly earnings increase. Additional contributions came from improved sales volumes in both wallboard and paperboard.

Gypsum Wallboard and Paperboard revenues for the first quarter totalled US$114.9m, a 28% increase from the same quarter in the 2013 fiscal year. The revenue increase reflects higher average wallboard net sales prices and higher gypsum wallboard and paperboard sales volumes. The average gypsum wallboard net sales price this quarter was US$1.57 per square meter, 23% greater than the same quarter a year ago.

Wallboard sales volume for the quarter of 532 million square feet represented a 16% increase from the same quarter of the 2012 - 2013 fiscal year.