Cement cartel fines cut by £280m

Cement giants found guilty of running a cartel have had their fines halved from £560m to £280m.

The suppliers - Holcim, HeidelbergCement, Dyckerhoff, Lafarge and Schwenk - were originally hit with the huge fines by Germany's Federal Cartel Office in 2003.

The firms have been involved in a long-running appeal against the decision  and the Higher Court of Dusseldorf has now decided to cut the original fines.

HeidelbergCement had its penalty cut by £67m to £144m and Holcim's fine was dropped from £62m to £12.4m

HeidelbergCement is also contesting the original ruling and filed an appeal during the 2003 trial which is still being heard.

A company spokesman said: "Until the final legal decision of the Federal Supreme Court, which cannot be expected before 2010, there are no obligations to pay the fine."

A spokesman for the court in Dusseldorf said the fines had been reduced because of gaps in the chain of evidence.