ZURICH (Reuters) - Holcim reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Friday as the building materials company gave more details of its plan to spin off its North American
Holcim Advances North American Spin-Off Following SEC Filing
By John Revill
ZURICH (Reuters) -Holcim gave more details of its plan to spin off its North American business on Friday as the building materials company reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.
Holcim has made a filing to the United States securities regulator about the divestment to shareholders, likely to be one of the biggest deals in the global construction market this year.
The Swiss company has submitted a Form 10 registration statement to the SEC, needed to register shares ahead of the spin-off and trading on a U.S. exchange.
It contains details about the carved-out business, which Holcim last week said it would call Amrize, including its 2024 revenue of $11.7 billion and adjusted core profit of $3.2 billion.
"Today's filing marks an important step towards the planned listing of Amrize and our ambition to become North America's leading building solutions company from foundation to rooftop," Holcim Chairman Jan Jenisch, who is set to be CEO of Amrize, said in a statement.
Holcim, said it was track to complete the spin-off in the first half of 2025 and would hold an investor day in New York on March 25.
The announcement as Holcim reported its fourth quarter results on Friday.
Recurring operating profit rose 4.4% to 1.17 billion Swiss francs ($1.30 billion), beating forecasts for 1.14 billion, while sales of 6.47 billion francs, down 1.9% from a year earlier, were in line with market expectation.
Holcim said its North American business had secured work on more than 200 infrastructure projects in the region and expected the reshoring of manufacturing to drive growth in 2025.
Still, it could be a difficult year for parts of the U.S. construction market, the Portland Cement Association said.
"Continued high mortgage rates have subdued residential construction activity," said Brian Schmidt, from the PCA, noting that commercial investments were also being delayed.
Holcim, which said it expected to increase its sales, when measured in local currencies, in the mid single-digit percentage range in 2025, will hold an investor day for its non-North American business on March 28.
($1 = 0.8988 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by John Revill, editing by Rachel More and David Evans)
