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Lafarge Africa has announced the appointment of Michel Puchercos as its new Managing Director/CEO with effect from April 1, 2016.   

In a statement released on Thursday, Lafarge Africa said Puchercos, a French national, will succeed Peter Hoddinott, who resigned from the company with effect from March 31st. Hoddinott, who is a British mining engineer, was appointed Managing Director/CEO in July 2015.

Until his appointment, 58-year-old Puchercos was the President/CEO of Lafarge South Korea-Japan Operations.

Lafarge Africa is the second largest cement company in Nigeria after Dangote Cement, the market leader. In its 2015 full-year financial statement, Lafarge Africa said pre-tax profits fell 27.5 percent to N29.27 billion, compared to N40.36 billion in the previous year. However, the company said gross revenues rose 2.4 percent to N267.23 billion in 2015, as compared to N260.81 billion reported in the previous year.

Formerly known as Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria Plc, the corporate name was changed to Lafarge Africa Plc in 2014. In 2015, following the $50 billion merger of Lafarge and Holcim – a Swiss-based building materials company – the new leader in the global building materials industry, LafargeHolcim, was formed.

The company controls four cement companies in Nigeria: LafargeWapco, based in Ogun State; AshakaCem, based in Gombe State; Atlas Cement, based in Rivers State; and United Cement Company of Nigeria (Unicem), based in Cross River State.