Gypsum industry news

France: Saint-Gobain has entered an agreement with US-based Continental for the acquisition of the latter’s Building Products section at an estimated value of Euro1.4bn. Saint-Gobain stated that the North American plasterboard producer has ‘strong geographic complementary’ with its existing operations in the continent, with a possible gain of Euro45.3m in cost synergies and performance improvements. It also noted Continental Building Products’ good positioning in its Eastern and South-Eastern United States growth regions and strong profitability.

UAE: French-based Saint-Gobain Gyproc’s Habito gypsum wallboard has received the Green Product of the Year Award at the Middle East and North Africa Green Building Awards for setting standards in environmentally friendly production. Saint-Gobain says that sustainability is at the core of its long-term strategy.

France: Saint-Gobain has reported nine-month sales of Euro31.1bn, down by 4.1% from Euro32.5bn in the nine months to 30 September 2018. Saint-Gobain has already achieved it annual divestment sales target of Euro3.0bn, further setting the group on track for a reduction in costs of Euro80m in 2019, Euro45m of this in the second half of 2019. The group was able to buy back 8.5 million of its shares over the period.

France: Saint-Gobain’s sales rose by 4.3% year-on-year to Euro21.7bn in the first half of 2019 from Euro20.8bn in the same period in 2018. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 8.4% to Euro2.42bn from Euro2.23bn. Growth was reported for its gypsum business in all territories apart from North America. Particular growth was noted in its Asia-Pacific region.

France: Saint-Gobain has appointed Maud Thuaudet as Vice-President, Corporate Strategy with effect from 3 September 2019. She succeeds Julie Bonamy, who is appointed chief executive officer (CEO) Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Thuaudet will report to Sreedhar N, Saint-Gobain’s chief financial officer (CFO) and will be a member of the group’s executive committee.

Thuaudet is currently Telecommunications Program Director at Thales Alenia Space, within the Thales Group, where she started her career in 2006. She was Project Manager for Thales International in India, Bid manager, then Business Development Manager for Thales Air System, before being appointed Merger and Acquisitions Manager for Thales Alenia Space. She is a graduate of École Polytechnique and a member of the Corps des Ponts et Chaussées. She also holds an MBA from the INSEAD business school.

France: Saint-Gobain’s sales rose by 6% year-on-year to Euro10.4bn in the first quarter of 2019 from Euro9.76bn in the same period in 2018. Sales for most of the group’s divisions rose with the exception of Asia-Pacific. Gypsum business growth was reported in Northern Europe, South Europe – Middle East & Africa and Asia Pacific. Like-for-like sale in Asia Pacific were supported by the start-up of a fifth float line in India. Insulation business growth was also noted in France.

Romania: France’s Fives has supplied a new FCB TSV1600 MF for Etex’s calcined gypsum grinding plant in Aghires. The project is part of an upgrade to the unit to close the existing open circuit. Commissioning took place in late January 2019.

France: Saint-Gobain’s Interior Solutions division’s sales revenue grew by 4% year-on-year to Euro7.17bn in 2018 from Euro6.88bn in 2017. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 11% to Euro1.06bn from Euro953m. Overall, the group’s sales and earnings rose in 2018, although at slower rates.

"As expected, our results for the second half show a significant improvement, benefiting from broadly supportive markets, a strong pricing dynamic and the settlement of industrial issues that had weighed on the group's profitability in the first half,” said Pierre-André de Chalendar, chairman and chief executive officer of Saint-Gobain. He added that the group has a program underway to divest sales of over Euro3bn by the end of 2019.

France: Saint-Gobain has appointed Benoit Bazin as its chief operating officer in an organisational and portfolio review process. The ‘Transform & Grow’ program intends to create a new organisational structure with five reporting units to improve growth and allow for a more ‘agile’ group structure.

"Saint-Gobain is evolving in a fast changing market environment, which can be a source of substantial growth opportunities, provided we are sufficiently close to our markets and sufficiently agile. We are launching an ambitious transformation plan, 'Transform and Grow' based on two pillars, an in-depth transformation of the Group's organisational structure and an accelerated portfolio rotation program,” said chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) Pierre-André de Chalendar.

The new structure will consist of five reporting units, with four regional businesses and a global High Performance Solutions unit. The new regional groups will be Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Americas and Asia-Pacific. The High Performance Solutions unit will include High-Performance Materials (HPM) and the Sekurit (automotive glass) business.

The program also plans to accelerate the group’s portfolio rotation. It is preparing to divest businesses worth around Euro1bn by the end of 2019. More than 10 companies of various sizes across all sectors are being actively prepared for divestment and three significant processes have already been launched.

France: Saint-Gobain’s Interior Solutions division’s net sales grew by 4.2% year-on-year to Euro5.33bn in the first nine months of 2018 from Euro5.11bn in the same period in 2017. The group said that division performance in the third quarter of 2018 was driven by pricing. Western Europe progressed slightly despite lower volumes in the UK. In North America, the acceleration in price increases in the quarter reduced sales volumes. Asia and emerging countries reported good growth. Overall, the group’s sales rose by 1.8% to Euro31.1bn from Euro30.6bn.

“Saint-Gobain continues along its growth trajectory despite a tough comparison basis in the third quarter of 2017. Our focus on increasing prices – critical in an inflationary environment – continues to pay off. The industrial issues that had weighed on our profitability in the first half of the year are largely behind us,” said Pierre-André de Chalendar, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Saint-Gobain.