Just imagine where this would have put Havilah!Funding?...

Just imagine where this would have put Havilah!
Funding? Prospects?

11/06/2020 Sanjeev Gupta wields axe to metals empire | FinancialTimes

SanjeevGupta wields axe to metals empire

Michael Pooler, Industry Reporter

GFGAlliance to slash costs by 30% through job and overheads cuts and productivity improvement

UK metals magnateSanjeev Gupta has launched a drive to slash costs by 30 per cent across hisinternational steel, aluminium and energy empire to cope with the fallout fromthe coronavirus pandemic.

GFG Alliance said jobcuts, cost-cutting and efficiency savings were needed to put its businesses ona firm footing in the wake of the crisis, which would have a “significant” and“lasting” impact on the economies in which it operates.

The family-owned group, whose acquisition spree in recent years hastransformed it into a conglomerate with $20bn in turnover, declined to disclosehow many of its 35,000-strong workforce would be affected byredundancies.

“The crisis hasprompted us to think differently about how our businesses are organised, how wewill work in the future and how we best allocate our resources,” Mr Gupta saidon Thursday. “I deeply regret that this will necessitate a reduction inroles.”

Over the past fiveyears, the Indian-born businessman has built a manufacturing powerhouse by snappingup failed or unwanted factories in Europe, the US and Australia, with pledgesto reduce the environmental footprint of heavy industry by running facilitieson renewable power.

However, its finances have drawn scrutiny and a number of GFG entities were struggling even beforethe coronavirus outbreak.

The difficulties willhave been compounded by a slump in metal orders after car production collapsedand construction activity ground to a halt because of lockdown measures.

A 20-40 per cent dropin steel consumption in certain regions was likely to persist for 12-18 months,GFG said, adding that aluminium markets were also under pressure.

Alongside thecost-cutting programme, GFG outlined investments into clean steelmakingtechnology at sites in the Czech Republic, Romania and Australia under anambitious drive to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.

GFG said the pandemichad “underlined the need to modernise plants to make them more flexible andefficient”. The unspecified capital expenditure would be funded by a mixture ofdebt, equity and government investment support schemes, it added.

The group employs5,000 people in the UK, where it has requested emergency state financialassistance.

Alasdair McDiarmid ofthe UK steelworkers union Community said: “It remains as important as ever thatthe government ensures that our steel industry gets the support itneeds.”

The target of 30 percent overall savings covers most of GFG’s activities, which range from carparts factories to mines and hydroelectric dams, with sites to implement localplans over the next three months.

It will not apply tothe family’s property holdings and its UKchallenger lender Wyelands Bank, which hasattracted regulatory attention over its lending to GFG entities.