£50m disposals cut RMC's debt

RMC Group has reported £50m worth of disposals in the Netherlands and Belgium to try and cut the group's debt.

Proceeds from the sale of its concrete products operations in the Netherlands last month have now been received.

An agreement has also been entered into for the sale of the group's ready mixed concrete and aggregates operations in Belgium. The disposal proceeds for this sale are expected to be received in the first quarter of this year.

RMC chairman Sir John Parker said the board was pleased with the progress being made on the group's debt reduction programme and was confident that net debt will be reduced to below £1bn by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the group also announced that Adrian Auer has been appointed as an executive director and group finance director with effect from 14 January.

Auer replaces Bob Lambourne who resigned from the group yesterday to pursue other interests.