Ken MacLean resigned as CEO of Lafarge South Africa in June 2017 to pursue other interests outside of the Group. MacLean assumed the role of CEO three years ago and has had a 30-year career with the LafargeHolcim Group. MacLean was instrumental in driving and leading the commercial transformation of the company, particularly focusing on Lafarge’ s route-to-market strategy and the Health and Safety Programme. Alta Theron, general manager of Readymix since 2015, was appointed interim CEO South Africa from 22 June 2017. Theron, who joined the company in 2004, has extensive experience within the industry and Lafarge South Africa. Her previous leadership roles include commercial manager and acting managing director for Ash Resources( a subsidiary of Lafarge Industries South Africa) in 2013, followed by her appointment to country marketing manager.
Sephaku Holdings has released provisional financial results for the year ended 31 March 2017, revealing a 12.8 % increase in net earnings for the Group( up from R60.4- million in 2016 to R68.1-million in 2017). There was a marginal increase in operating profit, from R84.2-million to R84.7-million, while basic earnings per share increased from 30.00 cents to 33.63 cents and headline earnings per share increased from 29.84 cents to 33.37 cents. Sales revenue for Dangote Cement SA remained relatively flat year-on-year at R2.3-billion despite a 4 % increase in annual sales volumes. The earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation( EBITDA) margin increased from 22 %( R505.5-million) to 23 %( R527.3-million), while the operating profit margin increased from 15 %( R336.9-million) to 16 %( R358.4-million) and net earnings increased by 36.7 %, from R50.4-million to R68.9-million. Subsidiary Métier’ s net profit increased by 7.3 % from R62.8-million to R67.4-million, despite a decline in revenue of 3.9 %. Operating margin levels remained steady at 12.9 %( 2016: 12.7 %), while cost of sales decreased by 5.2 % to R483.7-million and operational expenses by 3.7 % to R250.4-million to support margins. The EBITDA margin decreased from 16 %( R136.8-million) to 15 %( R127.0-million). Following two years of positive results, Métier submitted a R50-million dividend to Sephaku Holdings and reduced its overall bank debt obligations by R87- million to R215.9-million.
Integrated Pump Rental delivers Sykes pumps to surface mine
Integrated Pump Rental, the official Sykes distributor for southern Africa, sold eight Sykes CP 150 self-priming diesel-driven pumps to one of its surface coal mining customers, following a shortterm rental solution provided to the mine during the rainy season. The trailer-mounted pumps allow the mine to easily move the units to where they are needed on the site.“ Dewatering remains a critical activity in opencast mining operations and we were able to assist this customer at short notice over a weekend,” says Integrated Pump Rental MD, Lee Vine.
Within hours of having received the request for assistance, Integrated Pump Rental had supplied and installed eight diesel-driven pumps with 2 000m of layflat hose.
“ The Sykes pumps, which were hired out to the mine, were selected because we knew these units would be able to deal with the volume of water that needed to be transferred, and we were confident that the pumps would offer the reliability required,” Vine says.
The Sykes CP 150 selfpriming diesel-driven pump offers a maximum head of 60m with a flow rate of 172l per second— enough to drain the London 2012 Olympic Swimming Pool in just four hours. It is also capable of handling solids with a particle size of up to 77mm.
The Sykes pumps feature cleverly designed automatic priming capabilities based on a Venturi system, which can deliver suction lifts of up to 9m. The robust construction of the pumps ensures optimum reliability as well as long life, and the pumps are fully automatic priming, allowing the units to run dry for extended periods of time without damage.
Integrated Pump Rental
The Sykes CP 150 self-priming diesel-driven pump offers a maximum head of 60m with a flow rate of 172l per second.
4 _ QUARRY SA | SEPTEMBER 2017