Holcim Ltd. announced net sales of CHF $26.834 million for 2021, up 11.3% on a like-for-like basis and 16.0% higher in Swiss francs, compared to the prior year. The record growth in net sales was driven by volume growth in all regions and business segments and strong pricing.
Holcim continued to expand its aggregates and ready-mix concrete portfolio in mature European and North American markets with 12 bolt-on acquisitions in 2021. Further pursuing its ongoing portfolio optimization, Holcim has divested cement operations in Malawi, Zambia, the Indian Ocean and Northern Ireland, and has signed an agreement to divest its business in Brazil.
In 2021, Holcim said it became the first company in its industry to have its 2050 net-zero targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative, covering scope 1, 2 and 3 CO2 emissions and cutting across its entire operations and value chain. Holcim also launched the industry’s first sustainability-linked bonds in the Swiss franc market, raising a total of CHF $425 million. This represents a significant step toward the goal announced under “Strategy 2025 – Accelerating Green Growth” to link over 40% of financing agreements to the company’s sustainability goals.
Holcim also made solid progress toward three other 2025 sustainability targets announced as part of its new strategy: 25% of ready-mix sales from ECOPact green concrete; 10 million tons of construction & demolition waste (CDW) per year recycled in its products and 75 million tons per year of recycled materials overall; and Green CAPEX of CHF $500 million per year by 2025.
Since its global launch, the company has already sold more than 1 million cu. meters of ECOPact green concrete with a global presence across 24 markets to date, on its way to 25% of ready-mix net sales by 2025. The company is scaling up circular construction, with a +17% increase in recycled materials, reaching 54 million tons in 2021 and 6.6 million tons of CDW recycled into new products.
Jan Jenisch, CEO, said, “2021 was a record year for Holcim, reaching new levels of performance, across our financial and ESG targets. What makes me most proud is how we navigated the COVID pandemic with such extraordinary resilience and agility, working tirelessly to keep our people and communities safe.
“We delivered record financial performance across all our key metrics with net sales of CHF 26.8 billion and over-proportional Recurring EBIT growth of +25.7% LFL, reaching CHF 4.6 billion, and a debt leverage ratio of 1.4x. We achieved these unprecedented results, while accelerating the expansion of Solutions & Products, advancing our vision to become the global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions. We successfully welcomed Firestone Building Products into the Group in April and closed the year with double-digit growth. We also made good progress in the acquisitions of Malarkey and PRB Group, as further double-digit growth engines for the company.
“We delivered our Strategy 2022 one year in advance, setting solid foundations for our next era of growth. Putting sustainability at the core of our strategy, we accelerated the deployment of our green building solutions, from ECOPact green concrete and ECOPlanet green cement to smart roofing and energy efficiency systems. My sincere thanks goes to our 70,000 people who made all of this possible while keeping safety top of mind at all times.” Jenisch concluded.
With the acquisition of Firestone Building Products, net sales in the Solutions & Products segment increased by 90.8% in 2021 compared to the prior year to CHF $3,612 million. The Solutions & Products segment accounted for 13% of Group net sales to external customers in 2021, up from 8% in 2020. The Solutions & Products share of group net sales to external customers is targeted to reach 30% by 2025 under “Strategy 2025 – Accelerating Green Growth.”