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GENEVA (AP) — Shares of Holcim Ltd. jumped Monday after the Swiss-based cement and building materials company announced plans to spin off its North American unit and list its shares in the U.S.Sunday's announcement of the listing and spinoff comes 15 months after Holcim’s French subsidiary Lafarge pleaded guilty to paying millions of dollars to the Islamic State group to keep a plant open in Syria and agreed to pay about $778 million in penalties in a settlement with U.S. authorities. At the time, the Islamic State group controlled a vast swath of Syrian territory and was engaged in torturing kidnapped Westerners. The listing, which is expected to be completed in the first half of next year, would create a North American unit that is targeting more than $20 billion in net sales by 2030, the company said. Holcim will retain its listing on the Swiss SIX stock exchange. Chairman and CEO Jan Jenisch will lead the North American operations and hand over duties of CEO of Holcim to executive committee member Miljan Gutovic, an Australian national, on May 1.

Persons: Lafarge, Holcim, Jan Jenisch, Miljan Gutovic, Jenisch Organizations: GENEVA, Holcim Ltd, American, Islamic, Islamic State, Swiss SIX, North, SIX Locations: Swiss, U.S, Syria, American, Australian, Zurich, Holcim

☆ Holcim eyes $30 billion valuation with North American business listing, picks new CEO
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Switzerland's Holcim will spin off 100% of its North American operations in a New York flotation which could value the business at $30 billion, the building materials giant said on Sunday, as it also named a new chief executive. The spin-off could value the new company at around $30 billion, Jenisch told reporters, with Holcim retaining no stake. Holcim North America was trading at only 7 times operating profit, far less than the 10 to 15 times multiple of peers. Holcim is the biggest cement maker in North America, where it employs 16,000 people across 850 sites. The remaining Holcim business will have sales of around 17 billion Swiss francs ($19.69 billion), and employ 48,000 people.

Persons: Switzerland's, Miljan Gutovic, Jan Jenisch, Lafarge, Jenisch, Zuercher, Martin Huesler, Carlisle, James Hardy Organizations: Holcim, New York Stock Exchange, Eagle Materials Locations: New York, Holcim, Swiss, U.S, Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia, America, North America, Carlisle, The U.S

☆ Alstom to cut 1,500 staff, sell assets
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A logo of Alstom is seen at the Alstom's plant in Semeac near Tarbes, France, February 15, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 15 (Reuters) - Alstom (ALSO.PA) on Wednesday said it would cut jobs, sell assets and was considering a capital increase in a bid to boost its balance sheet and alleviate investor concerns over high debt. The maker of France's iconic TGV trains said it aimed to cut about 1,500 staff to help meet its confirmed mid-term targets. Alstom plans to cut its net debt by 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) by March 2025. As of Sept. 30, it had a net debt of 3.43 billion euros.

Persons: Regis, Henri Poupart, Lafarge, Philippe Petitcolin, Safran, Olivier Sorgho, Milla Nissi, Silvia Aloisi Organizations: Alstom, REUTERS, Traders, Thomson Locations: Semeac, Tarbes, France, Gdansk

☆ Alstom takes the direct route to lower credibility
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Nov 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Alstom’s (ALSO.PA) problems are piling up. Alstom’s headaches, which include an inventory build-up, project delays and an order slowdown, haven’t materially changed. But to retain its investment grade credit rating the group needs to slash net debt that has jumped 50% to 3.4 billion euros since March. But as Denmark’s Orsted (ORSTED.CO) has found, the only thing investors dislike more than operational upheaval is a message that constantly changes. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Gonzalo Fuentes, Henri Poupart, Lafarge, George Hay, taints, Lisa Jucca, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Alstom, REUTERS, Reuters, Caisse, X, Thomson Locations: Saint, Ouen, Paris, France

☆ Alstom cash crunch dents management credibility
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Oct 5 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Alstom (ALSO.PA) CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge faces an uphill struggle to shore up his credibility. The French train maker lost 35% of its market value – amounting to 3 billion euros - on Thursday after announcing that it would book negative free cash flow of 500 to 750 million euros this year. Finally, weaker than expected orders in the first half of the year generated less cash in the form of down payments. Given the potential for the group’s net debt to be 3 billion euros by year-end, 1 billion euros more than expected, Deutsche Bank analysts reckon it may soon need a capital increase. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Gonzalo Fuentes, Henri Poupart, Pierre Briancon, Aimee Donnellan, Streisand Neto Organizations: Alstom, REUTERS, Reuters, London Underground, Deutsche Bank, X, Sandoz, Brookfield, Temasek, Thomson Locations: Saint, Ouen, Paris, France

☆ Canada risks more than C$50 billion in clean tech as incentives in limbo
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Steve Scherer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

OTTAWA, Sept 18 (Reuters) - More than a year after Canada first announced incentives to jumpstart clean technology projects there is still no money flowing, and if they are not in place soon, more than C$50 billion ($37 billion) in investments could be at risk, industry groups said. The government "urgently needs to get as much of this out the door this fall as possible." Masterson says there are "well beyond C$25 billion of proposed investments" in more than a dozen projects in his industry that are waiting for the incentives. An additional C$17 billion in ITCs for clean hydrogen, electricity and manufacturing were announced six months ago and those are at an earlier stage. Adam Auer, president of Cement Association of Canada, said his members have "billions" in projects that are waiting on the ITCs.

Persons: Justin Trudeau's, Bob Masterson, Masterson, Trudeau, Dennis Darby, Darby, Adam Auer, Rachelle Schikorra, Steve Scherer, Timothy Gardner Organizations: Canada, Justin Trudeau's Liberal, Chemistry Industry Association of Canada, Canadian Manufacturers, CME, Cement Association of Canada, Dow Chemicals, Reuters, Thomson Locations: OTTAWA, United States, U.S, Exshaw , Alberta, Canada, Fort Saskatchewan , Alberta

France has used an anti-terrorism unit to question some climate activists, the police confirmed to Reuters. Britain’s National Police Chiefs’ Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment and its interior ministry did not comment. Germany does not have a national policy targeting climate activists, who the government considers mainly non-extremist, a spokesperson for the country’s interior ministry said. "Climate protesters can perhaps be locked away, but the climate catastrophe will come anyway," Lachner said after being convicted in Berlin in July for glueing incidents last year and fined 2,700 euros. In the January newspaper interview, the local office of the interior ministry confirmed both devices had been installed.

Persons: Yves Herman, Simon Lachner, he'd, “ radicalisation ”, Lachner’s, Lachner, Regensberg, Lafarge Holcim, SLT, Julien Le Guet, Le Guet, Pascale Leglise, Riham Alkousaa, Juliette Jabkhiro, Andrew MacAskill, William James, Katy Daigle, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: REUTERS, GPS, Bavaria, Reuters, Britain’s National Police Chiefs ’, Los, Prosecutors, Bavarian, Berlin, Military, National Commission, Control, Thomson Locations: France, Sainte, Soline, BERLIN, Lachner, Britain, Germany, Berlin, Europe, Los Angeles, Brandenburg, Bavaria, Bavarian, Regensberg, French, Deux, Sevres, Nouvelle Aquitaine, SLT, Paris, London

☆ The US economy's brief moment of slowing inequality might be on its way out
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Income inequality has narrowed in the US, with low-wage workers receiving raises during the pandemic. This trend has been tapering off, though labor market competition has benefited wage growth. This was thanks to pre-pandemic minimum wage legislation, coupled with higher raises for lower wage workers in the tumultuous years that followed. Although low-wage workers have slightly narrowed the gap, corporate profits have boomed, allowing those at the very top to stay separated from the rest. In June 2022, low-wage workers saw 7.2% wage growth from the prior year, falling to 6.5% in June 2023.

Persons: It's, David Autor, Ford, Autor, Harry Holzer, John LaFarge Jr, SJ, Georgetown University's, Holzer, Biden, " Holzer Organizations: Service, National Bureau of Economic Research, Federal Reserve Bank, Dallas, MIT Department of Economics, American Bar Association, Public, Georgetown, Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public, Federal Reserve Bank of, Economic Policy Institute Locations: Wall, Silicon, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

☆ DOJ launches new effort to target corporate sanctions evasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Hannah Rabinowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced a new effort by the Justice Department on Thursday to target corporate sanctions evasion and other financial crimes that implicate national security. “To address the increasing intersection of corporate crime and national security, the Department is today announcing significant restructuring and resource commitments within the National Security Division,” Monaco at the American Bar Association National Institute on White Collar Crime Thursday. “Companies are on the front lines of today’s geopolitical and national security challenges,” she said. “Increasingly, corporate criminal investigations carry profound national security implications.”As part of that effort, Monaco said, the Justice Department’s National Security Division will hire more than 25 new prosecutors to investigate “sanctions evasion, export control violations, and similar economic crimes.” Monaco said. The Justice Department has brought several sanctions violations cases in the past year.

☆ Train maker Alstom's sales gain steam from European orders
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A logo of Alstom is seen at the Alstom's plant in Semeac near Tarbes, France, February 15, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File PhotoJan 25 (Reuters) - French train maker Alstom (ALSO.PA) on Wednesday posted an 8% rise in third-quarter sales, helped by strong orders in Europe. The COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have hiked input costs and worsened supply-chain problems for train manufacturers, but a ramp-up in orders has nonetheless fuelled Alstom's sales growth. Revenue in the October-December period, Alstom's fiscal third quarter, amounted to 4.22 billion euros ($4.60 billion), compared with 3.92 billion in the same period a year earlier. Quarterly orders increased by 13% to 5.15 billion euros, with majority of them coming from Europe, the company said.

☆ French Cement Firm Lafarge Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Support Islamic State
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( James Fanelli | Corinne Ramey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Lafarge admitted that in 2013 and 2014 it paid terrorist organizations to protect a cement facility in northern Syria. French cement firm Lafarge SA pleaded guilty Tuesday in a New York federal court to paying Islamic State and an al Qaeda affiliate to protect its Syrian cement plant, marking what the Justice Department said was the first time it has charged a company with supporting terrorist organizations. Lafarge agreed to pay about $778 million in financial penalties and serve a term of three years probation. The company and its defunct subsidiary, Lafarge Cement Syria, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations.

Lafarge, which became part of Swiss-listed Holcim (HOLN.S) in 2015, agreed to pay $778 million in forfeiture and fines as part of the plea agreement. "Lafarge made a deal with the devil," Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, told reporters following the guilty plea. At that point, Islamic State took possession of the remaining cement and sold it for the equivalent of $3.21 million, prosecutors said. REUTERS/Charles PlatiauHolcim said that former Lafarge executives involved in the conduct concealed it from Holcim, as well as from external auditors. No Lafarge executives were charged in the United States.

Companies Lafarge Sa FollowHolcim AG FollowNEW YORK, Oct 18 (Reuters) - French cement maker Lafarge pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a U.S. charge that it made payments to groups designated as terrorists by the United States, including Islamic State. The admission in Brooklyn federal court marked the first time a company has pleaded guilty in the United States to charges of providing material support to a terrorist organization. Lafarge, which became part of Swiss-listed Holcim (HOLN.S) in 2015, agreed to pay $778 million in forfeiture and fines as part of the plea agreement. U.S. prosecutors said that Lafarge paid Islamic State and al Nusra Front, through intermediaries, the equivalent of approximately $5.92 million. At that point, Islamic State took possession of the remaining cement and sold it for the equivalent of $3.21 million, prosecutors said.

A French cement company has been charged in the U.S. with making $17 million in payments to the Islamic State terror group in exchange for the protection of its plant in Syria, the Justice Department said Tuesday. While no individuals have been charged, Justice Department officials said the investigation is ongoing. "We deeply regret that this conduct occurred and have worked with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve this matter," the statement added. In 2015, Lafarge was purchased by Holcim, a company in Switzerland. Holcim added that Lafarge concealed the conduct from Holcim before and after the acquisition.

Companies Lafarge Sa FollowHolcim AG FollowNEW YORK, Oct 18 (Reuters) - French cement maker Lafarge pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a U.S. charge that it made payments to groups designated as terrorists by the United States, including Islamic State, according to a court hearing. The admission in Brooklyn federal court marked the first time a company has pleaded guilty in the United States to charges of providing material support to a terrorist organization. The cement maker previously admitted after an internal investigation that its Syrian subsidiary paid armed groups to help protect staff at the plant. Holcim said that former Lafarge executives involved in the conduct concealed it from Holcim, as well as from external auditors. Rights groups in France in 2017 accused Lafarge of paying 13 million euros ($12.79 million) to armed groups including Islamic State militants to keep operating in Syria between 2011 and 2015.

☆ French company Lafarge pleads guilty to making payments to ISIS, is fined $778 million
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailFrench company Lafarge pleads guilty to making payments to ISIS, is fined $778 millionCNBC's Eamon Javers joins 'Closing Bell' with Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco to discuss a French cement company called Lafarge that was giving money and material support to ISIS in order to keep a cement plant open in Syria. Monaco also discusses the largest crypto scam so far.

A view of a Lafarge Cement plant is seen in Paris, France on September 8, 2021. The nearly $17 million payments to ISIS were made from August 2013 through October 2014, and occurred even as the terror group was kidnapping and killing Westerners. In a statement, Lafarge said, "Lafarge SA and [Lafarge Cement Syria] have accepted responsibility for the actions of the individual executives involved, whose behavior was in flagrant violation of Lafarge's Code of Conduct. "The DOJ noted that former Lafarge SA and [Lafarge Cement Syria] executives involved in the conduct concealed it from Holcim before and after Holcim acquired Lafarge SA, as well as from external auditors," Holcim said. Lafarge was indicted by French authorities in 2018 in connection with the ISIS payments on charges of being complicit in crimes against humanity.

ZURICH, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Holcim (HOLN.S) said it supported the agreement made by Lafarge SA with the United States Department of Justice on Tuesday regarding the company's funding of Islamic State to allow it to keep a cement plant running in Syria. A financial penalty of $778 million and a plea agreement has been arranged to resolve the DoJ inquiry into Lafarge, which is now part of Holcim following the companies' 2015 merger. "None of the conduct involved Holcim, which has never operated in Syria, or any Lafarge operations or employees in the United States, and it is in stark contrast with everything that Holcim stands for," Holcim said in a statement. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by John Revill, editing by Kirsti KnolleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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