Mexico’s GCC buys concrete companies in Minnesota, South Dakota
Mexican cement company Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua SA said Thursday it bought four ready-mix concrete companies in the northern United States.
In a press release, Chihuahua-based GCC said the companies - Consolidated Ready Mix Inc., Henrich and Sons Inc., Huron Steel Structures Inc. and B&B Concrete Inc. - have annual sales of about $30 million.
GCC didn’t say how much it paid for the acquisition, which includes 14 concrete plants in eastern South Dakota and western Minnesota, and 100 concrete mixer trucks.
GCC said the acquisition will strengthen its leading position in South Dakota and surrounding areas while positioning the company to benefit from an expected increase in concrete demand.
It said the four companies will operate as Consolidated Ready Mix Inc., which will be a fully owned unit of GCC.
GCC, with operations in Mexico, the U.S. and Bolivia, has installed cement capacity of 4 million metric tons a year. The company had sales around $400 million in the year ended September 2005.
More: grandforks.com
Telmex, Grupo Mexico, Dasa, Renner: Latin Equity Preview
The following stocks may make significant gains or losses in Latin America today. Symbols are in parentheses after the company name and stock prices are from the last session.
Mexico
Telefonos de Mexico (TELMEXL MM): Latin America's largest fixed-line telephone company cut the fee on calls to mobile telephones for a second straight year as part of an agreement with Mexican regulators. The shares closed unchanged yesterday at 13.68 pesos.
Grupo Mexico SA (GMEXICOB MM): Copper prices fell from a record in New York after inventories in warehouses monitored by the London
Ford probes work conditions at parts suppliers in China, Mexico - report
US automaker Ford Motor Co has been investigating companies it buys parts from in China and Mexico to ensure there are no sweatshop-like conditions at a vendor, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Over the last two years Ford has done assessments of working conditions at about 160 supplier plants, mostly in China, to make sure companies are following what Ford deems are international standards in areas such as child labor laws, prohibition on forced labor, health and safety rules and wages and benefits, the report said.
Ford's program
Mexicos Alfa buys Bancomers Onexa stake for $51 mln
Mexican conglomerate Alfa SA (ALFA.MX) said Monday it bought the 49% of its telecommunications unit Onexa that was owned by financial group BBVA-Bancomer for $51 million.
Onexa is a joint-venture partner with AT&T Corp. (T) in telephone company Alestra. Onexa holds 51% of Alestra and AT&T owns 49%. BBVA-Bancomer is the Mexican unit of Spanish banking giant Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBV).
Alfa said that increasing its stake in Onexa to 100% will give the company more flexibility in taking strategic decisions with its telecommunications investment.
Alestra, with annual sales of $400
Mexico's Cozumel, storm survivor, awaits tourists
At first glance, Mexico's Cozumel island -- a Caribbean jewel ringed with coral reefs -- looks like the site of a nuclear explosion.
Chunks of concrete pier have been swept away, palm-thatched beachside bars are stripped to skeletons, lush forest has turned into dry brown kindling and huge bites have been taken out of concrete buildings.
Yet unlike nearby Cancun, whose high-rise resorts are nearly all shut for repairs after their beaches were sucked away by Hurricane Wilma last month, many of Cozumel's hotels are open. Its best white sand beaches -- which are natural rather than
Mexico Buys $2.88 Billion of Central Bank Reserves (Update3)
Mexico's government bought $2.88 billion of central bank international reserves that it will use to help meet payments on all foreign debt coming due in 2006 and 2007.
The funds, which the government acquired by selling pesos to the Banco de Mexico, combined with $1.89 billion the government has available from earlier foreign bond sales will cover the $4.77 billion of foreign debt maturing in the next two years, the Finance Ministry said in a statement. Finance Minister Francisco Gil Diaz said that the dollar purchase will allow Mexico's government to stay
UPDATE 3-Mexico's Cemex net profit almost doubles on RMC buy
Mexico's Cemex (CX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's No. 3 cement maker, almost doubled its net profit in the third quarter from higher sales after the consolidation of its acquisition of Britain's ready-mix concrete giant RMC.
Cemex (CEMEXCPO.MX: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday its July-September net profit was $675 million, lower than market forecasts, but up from $361 million a year earlier.
A Reuters' survey of six analysts had yielded an average forecast that net profit for Cemex, which operates in more than 50 countries, would come in at $783
UPDATE 3-Mexico's Cemex net profit almost doubles on RMC buy
Mexico's Cemex (CX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's No. 3 cement maker, almost doubled its net profit in the third quarter from higher sales after the consolidation of its acquisition of Britain's ready-mix concrete giant RMC.
Cemex (CEMEXCPO.MX: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday its July-September net profit was $675 million, lower than market forecasts, but up from $361 million a year earlier.
A Reuters' survey of six analysts had yielded an average forecast that net profit for Cemex, which operates in more than 50 countries, would come in at $783
Firm violated the former ban
It used to be a crime to export some Western states potatoes to Mexico. Officials south of the border said they feared pests would come across in the shipments.
A Seal Beach broker, who tried earlier to get around the ban, got caught and had to pay a $10,000 fine in San Diego federal court last week.
Ned's House of Produce changed the documents accompanying $23,000 worth of Mexican-bound Colorado potatoes to say they came from North Carolina.
"It hasn't happened since," said Howard Frank, a lawyer for Ned's, after the court hearing. "They've been completely law-abiding
RMC buy to double Mexico's Cemex net profit
Mexico's Cemex, the world's No. 3 cement maker, is seen doubling its third-quarter net profit from higher sales in the consolidation of Britain's ready-mix concrete giant RMC and financial gains.
A Reuters survey of six analysts forecast, on average, a July-September net profit for Cemex of $783 million, up 117 percent from a year earlier.
The survey forecast that Cemex's (CX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) (CEMEXCPO.MX: Quote, Profile, Research)
revenues will jump 114 percent in the quarter, largely boosted by income from its $5.8 billion acquisition of RMC, the world's largest ready-mix concrete maker.
Financial gains from
RMC acquisition to boost profit for Mexico's Cemex
Mexico's Cemex, the
world's No. 3 cement maker, is expected to almost triple its
second-quarter net profit from the takeover of Britain's ready-
mix concrete producer RMC and from foreign exchange gains.
A Reuters survey of six analysts forecast, on average, that
Cemex (CX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) (CEMEXCPO.MX: Quote, Profile, Research) would report a net profit of $634
million for the April-to-June period, up from $247 million in
the same period a year earlier.
In March Cemex bought RMC, the world's largest ready-mix
concrete maker, for $5.8 billion, which strengthened its
business base in Europe and doubled sales.
"Above and beyond
