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.

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.