Holcim sells India division to billionaire Adani for 6.4 billion
Gautam Adani at a value meeting in Delhi.
(Bloomberg) Holcim has signed the sale of its Indian business to billionaire Gautam Adani. This is a further step in the strategy change under CEO Jan Jenisch, who wants to move away from the traditional cement business.
The Swiss company is selling its 63 percent stake in Mumbai-listed Ambuja Cements to the Adani Group, it was announced on Sunday. With the purchase of Ambuja, Adani also becomes the majority shareholder in the cement manufacturer ACC, which is also listed, and also buys Holcim’s directly held 4.5 percent stake in ACC. According to the statement, Holcim will receive a total of CHF 6.4 billion.
The 55-year-old Jenisch, who came to Holcim from Sika AG in 2017, cleaned up after the mega-merger of Holcim and Lafarge in 2015. Most recently, he sold cement companies and bought construction companies to benefit from the increasing demand for energy-efficient buildings. It acquired Malarkey Roofing Products in December and Firestone Building Products in early 2021, divested Holcim’s Brazilian business for $1 billion in September and sold Asian businesses like Holcim Indonesia in 2019.
For Adani, Asia’s richest man, the transaction means he can gain a foothold in the subcontinent’s fragmented cement sector. He prevailed against other local companies, including the JSW Group. Bloomberg News previously reported that Adani Group is in advanced discussions with Holcim.
The Indian Gautam Adani. Who is the newcomer to the richest club?
US Senate confirms Powell as Federal Reserve Chair
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
(dpa) The US Senate has confirmed the head of the Federal Reserve (Fed), Jerome Powell, for a further term with a large majority. Democratic President Joe Biden nominated the 69-year-old for another four years in November. On Thursday in Washington, 80 senators voted in favor and 19 against.
Powell has headed the central bank of the world’s largest economy since February 2018. The then President Donald Trump, a Republican, had nominated him. Powell has been a member of the Federal Reserve Board since 2012.
Biden welcomed the Senate vote. “I have made it clear that fighting inflation is my top domestic priority,” said the US President. With the confirmation, the Senate took another step towards combating inflation.
Federal court dismisses appeal by UBS data thief
(Reuters) The federal court has dismissed the appeal of a former UBS banker who was convicted in absentia of espionage for selling information about wealthy clients to German tax authorities. The lower court had sentenced the banker to 40 months in prison and fines and court costs of more than 125,000 francs. He was not present at the court hearing and his attorney did not respond to a request for comment. The convict apparently far in Germany. He should be spared the penalty here, because Germany hardly provides legal assistance on the subject of tax CDs.
Molecular Partners in the black
(Reuters) The biotech company Molecular Partners made a profit of CHF 153.1 million in the first quarter of 2022 thanks to a payment from Novartis after a loss of CHF 16.5 million in the previous year. For 2022, the company expects total costs of between 75 and 80 million francs. The company is financed with 296.2 million francs in cash until 2026, according to a statement on Friday.
Siemens withdraws completely from Russia
The Siemens group ceases all activities in Russia.
tsf. The Siemens group is also withdrawing entirely from Russia. A procedure had been initiated to stop industrial operations and all industrial business activities in Russia, the German technology group announced on Thursday. This is the end of a 170-year business relationship. “We condemn the war in Ukraine and have decided to end our industrial business activities in Russia in an orderly process,” says CEO Roland Busch, according to the media release.
Siemens had already announced in early March that it would no longer do any new business with Russia. For the time being, only long-term service contracts should be fulfilled. Now they want to stop all Russian business. The situation was also assessed in order to ensure the safety of the 3,000 employees on site.
The Russian business has also spoiled the result for the group. Impairments and other burdens – mainly in the railway division – burdened the quarterly profit after tax with 600 million euros. A low to mid three-digit million amount could now be added, as the company announced. Mainly because of the Russia effect, Siemens profits halved from January to March to 1.2 billion euros. Operating profit in the industrial sector fell by 13 percent to just under 1.8 billion euros. It was well below the expectations of the analysts.
The demand for Siemens products, on the other hand, remains high. Order intake improved by a third to 21 billion euros. Sales rose by 16 percent to a good 17 billion euros, exceeding analysts’ expectations.
Zurich Insurance is growing strongly
Zurich has grown strongly across all divisions.
tsf. The Zurich insurance group started the new year with a growth spurt. As the company announced on Thursday, gross premiums in property and casualty insurance increased by 8 percent to $11.9 billion. The main reason for this was a strong expansion in business with corporate customers and price increases. In all lines, Zurich benefited from premium growth. Growth was particularly strong in North America.
In the life insurance segment, the premium volume increased by 8 percent to $996 million. The value of new business fell by 10 percent, mainly due to a less favorable product mix and the unfavorable development of exchange rates, the company writes.
Chief Financial Officer George Quinn pointed out to the media that in the comparable quarter of 2021, a large corporate transaction with a high margin had a strong impact on the result; compared to the first quarters in 2019 or 2020, the value of new business is at a good level. One is very satisfied with the development of the life business, the (good) growth prospects have not changed in the past few months.
The Farmers Exchanges division posted growth of 29 percent to $6.88 billion. The company benefited from the inclusion of the Metlife transaction, which contributed 17 percentage points to sales growth.
The group only announces profit figures for the first half of the year and at the end of the year. After the good start to the year, Zurich expects to exceed all financial targets for 2022. Despite inflationary pressures, premium rates are expected to remain above combined trend well into 2023. And this despite the fact that Zurich, based on the latest figures from the USA, expects the rate of inflation to fall more slowly than originally assumed. Insurers appear to still be in a favorable phase of the pricing cycle, particularly in North America.
The insurer does not expect any major burdens from the war in Ukraine. “Although the effects of the war are likely to result in significant losses for the insurance industry, we do not anticipate any significant claims for the group,” the statement said. According to Quinn, the indirect effect of the war on the financial markets is the most important. And the observed rise in interest rates is having a positive effect on Zurich.
Bidder war for Holcim cement business in India
tsf. Holcim, the world’s largest cement company, apparently wants to sell its activities in India. According to a report in the Financial Times, Indian industrialist Sajjan Jindal has made a $7 billion purchase offer.
Now India’s largest cement company, Ultratech Cement, is also entering the bidding war. According to a report in the Business Standard newspaper, he is taking part in the race for Holcim’s stake in Ambuja Cements.
Around two weeks ago, there were also rumors that Holcim was about to sell its Indian subsidiary Ambuja Cements to the Indian billionaire Gautam Adani. The value of Holcim’s stake in Ambuja is estimated at just under $10 billion.
More on that: Saying goodbye to India would be a big step for Holcim – but only logical.
Nord Stream 2 files for bankruptcy – for the time being
(dpa) The company behind the Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 has averted bankruptcy for the time being. Nord Stream 2, based in , received a provisional debt restructuring moratorium until September 10 this year from the cantonal court, according to a new entry in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce (SHAB). A provisional trustee was also appointed.
In the case of a debt restructuring moratorium, a court first grants a company with payment difficulties a provisional moratorium. At the same time, the court enacted measures to ensure the preservation of any remaining assets. With the help of the administrator, the prospects of a composition agreement are to be examined.
Nord Stream 2 is a subsidiary of the Russian gas group Gazprom and is headquartered in Zug. The pipeline that was laid and completed through the Baltic Sea was supposed to bring Russian gas to Germany. It is now unlikely that it will ever be put into operation. The 100 or so employees in Zug were laid off at the time.
Allianz sticks to profit target despite Ukraine war
(dpa) Despite the war in Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia, the Allianz insurance group is on course to meet its profit target for the current year. The operating profit should continue to reach 12.4 to 14.4 billion euros, the group announced on Thursday in Munich. “The results of this quarter show that our business can withstand significant geopolitical and economic pressures,” said CEO Oliver Bäte, looking at the first three months of the year.
In the first quarter, Allianz achieved sales of 44 billion euros, which is around 6s percent more than a year earlier. As has been known since Wednesday, operating profit fell by three percent to 3.2 billion euros. In doing so, the insurer coped with significantly increased losses from natural catastrophes. The bottom line, however, is that the shareholders only made a profit of 561 million euros. Because the group put aside a further 1.9 billion euros for the ongoing legal dispute with major customers of its fund subsidiary Allianz Global Investors (AGI), as it also announced on Wednesday. A year earlier, the company had earned almost 2.6 billion euros on balance.