Miljan Gutovic, CEO Holcim Group, Interview in KATHIMERINI: Greece is Holcim’s Mediterranean Hub

Holcim is one of the biggest international groups in the building solutions and materials segment. Can you highlight the main existing trends globally, but also the challenges (for example regulatory, environmentally, supply chain, AI)?

There are several global megatrends shaping the future of construction, with population growth and urbanization the most fundamental. The world’s population is set to grow by 2 billion by 2050, with an increasing proportion of people moving to cities.

 However, this is set to come on top of what is already a serious shortage of housing worldwide, with an estimated 1.6 billion people already affected today. In the European Union, there is a 10 million gap in terms of residential buildings needed, but this is also the case all over the world, from Mexico to Egypt. This is something important that governments and our industry have to address: homes are essential to fulfill people’s basic needs and build strong communities.

Holcim can meet this demand by offering customers a broad range of sustainable building solutions at scale to bridge the global housing gap. We are helping build homes in NextGen cities with solutions that are circular, low-carbon, resilient, energy-efficient and smart. And we offer these solutions from end to end - through integrated systems that maximize value for our customers.

What is the level of adoption of more environmentally friendly materials and solutions offered by the Group? Is there a level of uncertainty by parts of the market, for example on the benefits offered or the durability/structural strength of the products?

Customer demand for Holcim’s sustainable offering is continuing to increase. In 2025, net sales of Holcim’s low-carbon ECOPact concrete increased to 31% of ready-mix net sales compared to 26% in the prior year, while net sales of our low-carbon cement

 ECOPlanet increased to 36% of cement net sales versus 34% in 2024. As part of our NextGen Growth 2030 strategy, we have set a target for sales of ECOPact and ECOPlanet to reach 50% of cement and concrete net sales by 2030 - and we are well on track. 
Using our ECOCycle technology, we can "build cities from cities" by upcycling valuable construction demolition materials into new building solutions. This saves valuable primary materials, helping our customers achieve their ambitious circularity goals and meeting the growing demands of cities worldwide. We more than doubled our net sales from circular construction last year to close to 500 million Swiss francs (around 540 million euros).

ECOPact concrete and ECOPlanet cement deliver 100% performance alongside a CO2 footprint that is at least 30% lower than standard concrete and cement. So customers are clear on the performance and the benefits. Both product ranges are available globally, enabling our customers to achieve stringent sustainability requirements. When certified by Environmental Product Declarations, they enable green building certifications such as LEED or BREEAM.

The looming EU regulations which will come into effect gradually from 2030 onwards, will require significant greenhouse gas savings on both new building construction, but also the renovation of existing stock. Is this a main growth area on a European level? 

What are the group’s solutions and what’s the strategy moving forward in terms of capturing more of this upside potential?
The need for energy-efficient building stock is another of the megatrends shaping our industry’s future. In Europe alone, around 75% of residential buildings are energy inefficient. These buildings need refurbishment to reduce their energy consumption for heating, cooling and power generation. Energy-efficient buildings can lower both operational costs and environmental impact. On average, efficiency measures can reduce household energy bills by 20% to 50%.

This is a huge growth area that Holcim is targeting, which is one of the reasons why we are targeting an increase in the net sales we generate from high-value building solutions to 50% of the group total by 2030. From foundation and flooring to walling and roofing, our energy-efficient offering includes precast concrete blocks for walling that contain aggregates to trap air and resist heat transfer. They can also be filled with Airium – a mineral insulating foam that can be used in both new buildings and green 

Can you provide us with some financial and sustainability performance data for 2025, compared to the previous years (Holcim and locally as well)?

Holcim delivered excellent 2025 results, with an acceleration in the fourth-quarter and with all targets achieved. We reported net sales growth of 3% in local currency to 15.7 billion Swiss francs. There was a double digit increase in our recurring EBIT in local currency to 2.9 billion Swiss francs, with an expansion of our industry-leading margin to 18.3%, up 80 basis points year-on-year, driven by our high-value strategy. This includes scaling up our sustainable offering, as well as continuously exercising strong cost discipline while enhancing operational efficiency.

Free cash flow before leases for the full year rose 1.6% to reach CHF 2 154 million, with a cash conversion ratio of 54%. And our earnings per share grew by 5%.
Looking at sustainability performance, I mentioned the increase in customer demand for ECOPact and ECOPlanet previously. For circular construction, Holcim made three value-accretive acquisitions in 2025 and invested in organic growth to add a combined 12 new circular construction hubs. We increased the recycling of construction demolition materials by 23.5% to 8.0 million tons compared to 2024.

Holcim’s recent milestones in Greece reflect a focus on decarbonization and circularity. We are making investments such as at our state-of-the-art plant in Milaki, a €400 million investment that was recently designated a "Strategic Investment of Exceptional Importance" by the Greek state.

At the regional level, we expect our carbon capture and storage project at the plant, called OLYMPUS, to create around 1,000 direct and indirect jobs, through our work with subcontractors and suppliers, contributing to the overall economic development of the area. It will further our leadership in sustainability and innovation in Greece, where we have operated for more than 110 years and have more than 70 production sites, by enabling us to produce near-zero cement and concrete at scale.
We have also scaled our Geocycle operations to transform waste into alternative fuels and raw materials, significantly reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.

Which would you say were the main highlights of Heracles in terms of new investments and products introduced over the past few years?

In terms of our product offering in Greece, we have seen tremendous and growing demand for our sustainable building brands like ECOPact low-carbon concrete and ECOPlanet low-carbon cement.

ECOPlanet already accounts for more than half our net sales of cement in Greece. That is higher than the average of 36% for the Holcim group at the end of 2025, demonstrating that Greece is emerging as a key strategic sustainable construction hub in Europe.

Heracles has been a “household name” in the Greek market for many decades. How do you plan to further develop the Greek affiliate in the coming years? Which will be the main focus and areas where you see growth?

To further develop our 115-year legacy in Greece, we are shifting from simply being a leader in traditional building materials to also leading in innovative and sustainable building solutions and systems, from foundation and flooring to walling and roofing. 

Our growth strategy for the coming years focuses on three pillars. The first involves investing in energy autonomy.  Second, we want to lead in circular construction to build cities from cities. We are taking a leading role in recycling construction demolition materials back into building materials and solutions. 

The third pillar is digital transformation. By integrating our "Plants of Tomorrow" framework - including the use of AI-driven predictive maintenance and automated Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) - we aim to provide unprecedented transparency and efficiency to our customers and partners.

The Greek market has shown significant potential and growth over the past few years, on the back of a strong recovery in construction activity, both on the building and on the infrastructure side. What is the Group’s comment on this development and its outlook on the local market moving forward?

We view Greece as a strategic sustainable construction hub for the wider Mediterranean. Our outlook is very optimistic: we expect Greece to be one of the fastest-growing markets in Europe at Holcim in 2026, and the combination of a strong construction pipeline and a sophisticated customer base that values sustainability makes Greece an important contributor to our NextGen Growth 2030 strategy.

So Greece is a highly attractive market that we expect to be a strong performer in the future, just as it has been in recent years.