Vicat S.A. - Introduction

Introduction

6 Place De L Iris
92400 Courbevoie
France
Telephone: (+33) 01 58 868 686
Fax: (+33) 01 58 868 686
Web site: http://www.vicat.fr

Public Company
Incorporated: 1853
Employees: 5,700
Sales: EUR 1.46 billion ($1.27 billion) (2003)
Stock Exchanges: Euronext Paris
Ticker Symbol: VCTP
NAIC: 327310 Cement Manufacturing; 327410 Lime Manufacturing

Vicat S.A. is France's third-largest producer of cement, concrete and granulates, and also holds a strong share in these markets in the United States, through its National Cement Company subsidiaries in Alabama and California. Vicat produces more than 17 million tons of cement per year in 12 factories, including five in France, two in the United States, two in Turkey, and one each in Senegal, Egypt, and Switzerland. The company also operates grinding plants in France and Italy. Each year, the company produces more than seven million cubic meters of concrete in nearly 210 sites in France, the United States, Switzerland, and Turkey, and more than 15 million tons of granulates in 57 locations in France, Turkey, Switzerland and Senegal. The company's products include its Prompt brand of fast-setting cement. Vicat has also extended its operations over the years into a number of complementary activities, including specialty concrete coatings; prefabricated concrete products, including sewage and drainage pipes; transportation and logistics of concrete and other building materials; wholesale distribution of concrete and other building products through a chain of ten depots; and paper through Les Papeteries de Vizille, which produces 30,000 tons of specialty papers per year, especially paper and packaging for the construction industry, including cement sacks. These operations accounted for nearly 20 percent of the group's sales, which neared EUR 1.5 billion ($1.3 billion) in 2003. Cement added approximately 40 percent to the group's sales, while concrete, including ready-mix and granulates, added nearly 41 percent. France remains the group's primary market, at nearly 50 percent of sales. International sales topped 50 percent for the first time in 2003, with the United States, at 22 percent, representing the company's second-largest market. The company was founded by the son of Louis Vicat, the inventor of artificial cement, and the family remains the company's largest shareholder, with some 53 percent of shares. CEO Jacques Merceron-Vicat is the sixth generation to lead the company. Quoted on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange, Vicat's other major shareholder is HeidelbergCement, which controls 35 percent of its shares.