Company announces changes to managing and supervisory boards as part of long-term succession planning
UPON conclusion of his third term at the end of January 2020, Dr Bernd Scheifele is to give up the chair of the managing board of HeidelbergCement AG to the current deputy chairman, Dr Dominik von Achten (pictured), whose appointment has been extended until end of January 2025.
At the same time, Dr Scheifele has been asked to stand as candidate for chairman of the supervisory board after the end of a statutory two-year cooling-off period in 2022, which he has agreed to do.
Further decisions have also been made regarding the composition of the managing board as from 1 February 2020. The supervisory board has extended the contract of chief financial officer Dr Lorenz Näger until the end of May 2022 and appointed him as new deputy chairman of the managing board.
Dr von Achten will hand over responsibility for the Western and Southern Europe Group area to Jon Morrish, who has thus far been in charge of North America, whilst Chris Ward, currently head of the Canada region, will be promoted to the managing board and take on responsibility for the North America Group area.
Starting in August 2019, Ernest Jelito, who currently heads HeidelbergCement’s activities in Poland, will succeed Dr Albert Scheuer as member of the managing board in charge of the Northern and Eastern Europe-Central Asia Group area.
‘The changes in 2020 are part of long-term succession planning for the supervisory board and managing board,’ said Fritz-Jürgen Heckmann, chairman of the supervisory board of HeidelbergCement AG.
‘Since assuming office in 2005, Dr Bernd Scheifele has decisively shaped the Group and successfully moved it into new dimensions both operationally and strategically. By introducing effective management processes and a lean organization, he significantly increased the competitiveness of HeidelbergCement, propelling us to the forefront of the industry.
‘He has also overseen expansion of our geographic footprint and the scope of our core activities and made HeidelbergCement the leading vertically integrated building materials company globally. The supervisory board would like to thank him for his longstanding commitment and is very glad that he has agreed to stand as a candidate for the supervisory board in 2022.’
Dr Scheifele added: ‘In Dr Dominik von Achten, we have named a very competent and experienced successor as chairman of the managing board from within our own ranks. He has played a decisive role in the very successful integrations of Hanson and Italcementi and has proven his competencies in managing the Group areas North America and Western and Southern Europe.’
Meanwhile, in a separate statement on HeidelbergCement’s preliminary unaudited figures for the year ended 31 December 2018, Dr Scheifele said the company had achieved new record values in sales volumes and revenue in 2018.
Last year, the cement and clinker sales volumes of the Group increased moderately by 3% compared with the previous year to 130 million tonnes (2017: 126 million tonnes), whilst deliveries of aggregates rose slightly by 1% to 309 million tonnes (305 million tonnes). Deliveries of ready-mixed concrete increased by 4% to 49 million cubic metres (47 million cubic metres) and asphalt by 7% to 10 million tonnes (9.6 million tonnes).
As a result of the increase in sales volumes in all business lines and successful price increases, Group revenue rose by 5% to €18.1 billion (2017: 17.3 billion). After adjustment for currency and positive consolidation effects, the revenue growth was as high as 8%. In contrast, RCOBD fell by 7% to €3.1 billion (€3.3 billion).
‘In operational terms, we were almost able to offset the impact of adverse weather conditions, particularly in the US, and the higher than expected cost inflation through growth in sales volumes and price increases. Our action plan is also producing its first results: thanks to the accelerated portfolio optimization and expenditure discipline, we were able to reduce net debt at year end to below €8.4 billion,’ said Dr Scheifele.
HeidelbergCement’s complete consolidated financial statements, including the outlook, will be published on 21 March 2019.
