James Hardie

Type: Public
On the web: http://www.jameshardie.com
Employees: 2,306
Employee growth: (20.0%)

James Hardie Industries takes the rap for wrapping homes in fiber cement siding. A pioneer in cellulose-reinforced fiber cement, building materials company James Hardie uses the material to create products for residential and commercial construction, including siding (Hardiplank), external cladding, walls, fencing, and roofing. The company also makes fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) pipe through its Hardie Pipe business. The company's largest segment, USA Fibre Cement, has made substantial inroads into the US siding market, where it is now one of the largest siding manufacturers. Hardiplank siding is popular for its durability and low maintenance.

Key numbers for fiscal year ending March, 2009:
Sales: $1,202.6M
One year growth: (18.1%)
Net income: $136.3M

Officers:
Chairman: Michael N. (Mike) Hammes
CEO: Louis Gries
CFO: Russell Chenu

Competitors:
CertainTeed
CSR Limited
USG

Incorporated:
NAIC: 327310 Cement Manufacturing; 332913 Plumbing Fixture Fitting and Trim Manufacturing

Australia-based, Netherlands-registered James Hardie Industries N.V. is one of the world's leading manufacturers of fiber-based cement products and technologies for the construction industry. The company is especially strong in the United States, where it is market leader and where it generates more than 85 percent of its total revenues. The company operates six production plants in the United States and continues to expand its production capacity in the booming U.S. housing market of the early 2000s. The company also operates plants in Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Chile. Formerly a diversified conglomerate, James Hardie has slimmed down at the turn of the century, and, ultimately, after shedding its gypsum board and windows subsidiaries, has focused itself as a specialist fibro-cement company. In 2000, the company transferred its registration to Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, in order to take advantage of more lenient tax treaties between that country and the United States (under the Australian-U.S. tax treaty, nearly 75 percent of all shareholder profits were taken up by taxes). The company, which retains its listing on the Australian Stock Exchange, has been interested in seeking a full listing on the New York Stock Exchange as well.

In 1888, when he was 36 years old, James Hardie traveled from Scotland to Australia, where he set up a trading company in Melbourne. Hardie's background in his family's tannery in Scotland led him initially to concentrate on importing animal oils and products for the tanning of animal hides. Hardie soon began to branch out, however, acquiring the import agencies for a variety of other products.

Hardie was joined by Andrew Reid, with whom he had become acquainted while working as a shipping agent in Scotland. Reid immigrated to Australia in 1892 and by 1895, at the age of 28, had become a full partner in Hardie's business.

The following year marked the invention of a new material that was to play an important role in the company's development--and indeed become its specialty more than one hundred years later. A composite of asbestos and cement that enabled the production of thin cement sheets, this material proved itself useful for a variety of purposes. The first imports of fiber cement into Australia began in 1903, and James Hardie quickly became a leading importer of "fibrolite," as the French variant of the material was called. Fibrolite's flexibility and ability to withstand high pressure made it a popular material for the production of pipes.

James Hardie retired in 1911, selling his half of the company to Andrew Reid, who nonetheless retained the company's original name. Until the outbreak of World War I, James Hardie contented itself with its rising sales of imported fiber cement products. Imports became impossible during the war, however. Instead, the company imported the machinery to produce fiber cement itself. James Hardie's first fiber cement production started up in 1917.

Originally, James Hardie produced its own fibrolite. By 1920, however, the company began to develop its own fiber cement formulas and production processes. In 1923, the company debuted its Sutton process, named after the company employee that developed it, and by 1926 had perfected the process. The company was now able to produce pipes measuring up to 3.6 meters in length. The process also provided a low-cost alternative to the traditional pipe-production process.

Following the successful development of the Sutton process, James Hardie split off its import agency operations into a separate company in order to concentrate on building its fiber cement business. By the end of the 1930s, the company had succeeded in establishing itself as a technology leader. The company had also expanded throughout much of Australia, setting up production plants in Sydney, Victoria, Western Australia, Newstead, and Riverdale.

James Hardie continued to invest in technology development, adding new, more modern equipment in 1937. The company also became involved in asbestos mining, forming Asbestos Mines Pty Ltd. in conjunction with CSR company Wunderlich in 1944. Aiding the company's further expansion was a public listing on the Australian Stock Exchange, made in 1951. James Hardie had in the meantime been developing a new production process, the autoclave, or steam-curing, process, which was launched in 1959.

James Hardie had already begun to diversify, adapting its expertise in working with asbestos to a variety of areas, including automobile products and railroad brake components. In 1962, the company set up a joint-venture with Turner & Newell, the leading manufacturer of asbestos products in the United Kingdom. James Hardie had also expanded into other international markets, especially in the Pacific Southeast, including shares in fiber cement production plants in Malaysia and elsewhere.

In the late 1970s, James Hardie, under the leadership of Andrew Reid's grandson John Reid, began a diversification drive. Through the 1980s, the company repositioned itself as a full-scale building products group, particularly as the long-time health concerns over asbestos exposure had at last resulted in bans on its use around the world. Yet the company expanded into other areas as well, particularly with the A$52 million purchase of the Australian publishing and paper operations of Reed International.

Following the acquisition, the company restructured into three primary business units: Building Products, Paper Merchanting and Converting, and Technology and Services. Over the next decade, the company worked to replace the asbestos component of its products, especially its flagship fiber cement products. By the middle of the 1980s, the company had succeeded in developing a new, cellulose-based fiber cement. At the same time, the company succeeded in introducing new insulation materials based on magnesia, allowing it to exit the asbestos market entirely.

Backed by its new product, the company stepped up its export efforts, particularly with an eye to the U.S. market. The company set up a U.S. subsidiary in 1988 and began marketing its fiber cement siding and other products to the building industry in the United States. Originally the company supplied its U.S. sales with product imported from Australia; in 1989, however, James Hardie set up its first fiber cement production facility in the United States.

Yet the company found it hard going in its attempt to persuade builders to switch to its product from the traditional vinyl and treated hardwood materials. The U.S. subsidiary quickly began losing money, In 1991, a review of the company's operations by management consultants encouraged the company to shut down the U.S. plant and exit the North American market. Instead, James Hardie decided to stick it out. That decision was to play an important part in redefining the company as it approached its centenary celebration.

The revitalization of the U.S. building market, after several years of economic recession, coupled with increasing industry interest in the strength and versatility of fiber cement, enabled James Hardie's U.S. subsidiary to turn its first profit by 1994. Fiber cement quickly became the company's fastest-growing segment, and the U.S. market was easily its fastest-growing and most profitable market. By 1998, the United States accounted for more than 45 percent of the company's sales and 61 percent of its profits. Just two years later, the United States represented 60 percent of its annual revenues and 90 percent of its profits.

John Reid was forced to step down from the company's lead in 1995, in part because of a costly loan guarantee made through James Hardie in the late 1980s. Reid's place was filled by Keith Barton, who promptly launched the company on a streamlining drive that refocused the company on its building products segment and placed an emphasis on growth in the United States.

As part of that effort, the company made a push to enter U.S. gypsum wallboard market--representing 50 percent of the worldwide market--building and buying plants in Nevada, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. The company's gypsum operation also included its own gypsum mine. In 1997, James Hardie expanded again, paying A$121 million to Australian Boral Ltd. for its Briar Gypsum plasterboard operation in Arkansas. The purchase gave James Hardie a production capacity of nearly 2,000 million square feet, making it the fourth-largest producer in the United States.

In 1999, James Hardie, which faced compensation fines for its former asbestos operations, split the company into two components, creating a new company, James Hardie Industries N.V. to take over its gypsum and fiber cement business. At the same time, the company shifted its corporate legislation to the Netherlands. Initially, James Hardie had considered moving its corporate headquarters to California and listing on the New York Stock Exchange, but the unfavorable climate for "old-fashioned" sectors, such as the building market, led it to Amsterdam instead.

The new legislation enabled the company and its shareholders to escape the double tax that resulted from the then-current Australian and U.S. tax treaty, which in effect captured nearly 75 percent of share benefits as tax. The move to Amsterdam also promised to save the company some A$30 million per year in taxes. In the meantime, the company maintained its core Australian shareholders group and its listing on the Australian Stock Exchange.

James Hardie continued to expand its fiber cement operation in the new decade. In 2000, the company boosted its number of U.S. fiber cement plants to six with the opening of a new facility in Texas. The company also began enlarging its existing plant in order to meet soaring demand. By then, the company's fiber cement products had become a new industry standard. At the same time, with mortgage rates dropping to their lowest levels in decade, the United States was experiencing a huge construction boom.

Fiber Cement was also imposing itself elsewhere in the world, and at the end of 2000 James Hardie targeted entry into the promising South American market, buying a factory in Chile for A$12.8 million. By then, the company had also expanded its production capacity in Asia, notably through a plant in the Philippines.

As fiber cement sales continued rising, wallboard sales were sinking as prices dropped in the market. The division began losing money, and in 2001 new CEO Peter MacDonald, former head of the James Hardie's U.S. division, moved to exit the gypsum business. In July of that year, the company sold off its Nevada gypsum mine to developer WL Holmes for A$98 million. By 2002, the company had succeeded in finding a buyer for the rest of its gypsum operations, which was acquired by BPB Plc for $345 million. At the same time, the company moved to exit another remaining building products unit, that of manufacturing windows, which was spun off in a management buyout led by Crescent Partners at the end of 2001.

By May 2003, the end of its fiscal year, James Hardie's streamlining effort appeared to be paying off as the company posted profits of $170 million on sales of more than $800 million. The company was also the out and out leader of the fiber cement market in the United States, which by then had risen to more than 85 percent of the group's annual sales. At that time, James Hardie did not rule out an eventual transfer of its headquarters and stock listing to the United States. For the near future, however, the company prepared to continue its international expansion, now targeting the European market. One hundred years after its "discovery" of fiber cement, James Hardie seemed to have come full circle as a focused fiber cement products specialist.

Principal Subsidiaries

James Hardie Building Products Inc (United States); James Hardie Building Products Ltd.; James Hardie Export; James Hardie Industries USA; James Hardie Irrigation Inc. (United States); James Hardie New Zealand Ltd.

Principal Competitors

Georgia-Pacific Corporation; CertainTeed Corporation; MaxiTile Inc.; Cemplank Inc.

Further Reading

"Australia's James Hardie to Move Head Office to Netherlands," AsiaPulse News, October 12, 2001.

"Australia's James Hardie to Sell Windows Business," AsiaPulse News, November 7, 2001.

Baynes, Jim, "Hardie Sells off US Gypsum Mine," Courier-Mail, July 3, 2001, p. 25.

Carroll, B. "A Very Good Business": One Hundred Years of James Hardie Industries Limited, 1888-1988, Sydney: James Hardie Industries.

"Hardie Soars in US," Daily Telegraph, October 23, 20002, p. 50.

History of James Hardie & Co Pty Ltd. 1888-1966, Sydney: James Hardie & Co Pty Ltd, 84 pp.

"James Hardie Retires $60 million in Debt," Home Channel News, January 6, 2003, p. 1.

Roberts, Jeremy, "Hardie Rides Housing Boom to $264m," Australian, May 16, 2003, p. 22.

— M.L. Cohen

This article is about the Australian company. For the Scottish politician, see Keir Hardie. For other uses, see James Hardy.

James Hardie Industries Ltd.

Type	Public (ASX: JHX)
Founded	Melbourne, Australia 1888
Headquarters	Netherlands
Key people	Louis Gries, CEO Russell Chenu, CFO
Industry	Building materials
Products	Columns Commercial Facades Weatherboards Fencing and Lattice
Revenue	AU$1.5 billion
Employees	2500
Website	James Hardie

James Hardie Industries Ltd. is an industrial building materials company headquartered in the Netherlands and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange which specialises in fibre cement products. James Hardie manufactures and develops technologies, materials and processes for the production of building materials^{[citation needed]}. For over 20 years, Hardie has also operated a research and development facility devoted solely to fiber-cement technology. The company was a key player in asbestos mining and manufacturing in Australia through most of the twentieth century^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Asbestos products and controversy 3 See also 4 References 5 Further Reading 6 External links 6.1 News items related to inquiry

History

James Hardie immigrated to Australia in 1888 from Linlithgow, Scotland, and created a business importing oils and animal hides. Andrew Reid, also from Linlithgow, came to join Hardie in Melbourne, and became a full partner in 1895. When Hardie retired in 1911, he sold his half of the business to Reid.

James Hardie Industries Ltd. was first listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1951.

In December 2001, the company shareholders unanimously voted to restructure and relocate the company in the Netherlands as a parent company. This had the effect of separating the company from the stigma of its asbestos liabilities^[2].

Asbestos products and controversy

For much of the 20th Century James Hardie was involved in the manufacture, distribution and mining of asbestos and its related products such as building products, insulation, pipes and brake linings. In Australia, there were asbestos plants in New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. Many of these products - including the building material known as "Fibro" - resulted in people developing asbestosis and mesothelioma ^[3]. There were other companies involved in similar operations, most notably CSR, so James Hardie is not responsible for all cases of asbestos-related disease. However, despite the various sources of liability, more than 50% of claims made to the NSW Dust Disease Tribunal in 2002 were brought against companies in the James Hardie group^[4]. Prince et al. ^[5] claim that this is due to the range of mining and manufacturing interests that James Hardie had throughout its long operating history. The Australian Council of Trade Unions ^[6] estimated that 4,600 claims for mesothelioma would be made against James Hardie from 2006 onwards, with claims expected to peak in 2010 or 2011 with 250 claims per year. The total amount of past and future claims made against James Hardie for asbestos-related diseases is estimated to be more than 12,500 of which 8,103 will be claimed after 2006^[7]. This is a significant portion of the public health disaster which asbestos has become in Australia: Australia has one of the highest rates of asbestos-related disease in the world; it is estimated that between 30,000 and 40,000 people will have contracted an asbestos-related cancer (including mesothelioma and lung cancer) by 2020 ^[8]. Most of these victims will not have worked directly with asbestos but are more likely to be home renovators and the children of home renovators ^[9].

James Hardie and its subsidiaries had been providing compensation for victims of its operations since the 1980s. There were some claims prior to this, but the proliferation of cases from the 1980s onwards saw James Hardie acknowledge that asbestos was known to be dangerous though the company claimed it had done everything possible to protect workers ^{[10] [11]}. In 1978 the company began putting warning labels on its products explaining that inhalation of the dust could result in cancer ^[12] and in March 1987 ceased all asbestos manufacturing activities ^[13].

James Hardie had been structured as a parent company operating through subsidiaries since the 1930s. All asbestos operations, including the provision of compensation, were undertaken by James Hardie's subsidiaries, principally James Hardie and Coy and Hardie-Ferodo (later known as Jsekarb) ^[14]. Between 1995 and 2000, James Hardie (the parent company) began to remove the assets of these subsidiaries (since renamed Amaca and Amaba respectively) whilst leaving them with most of the asbestos liabilities of the James Hardie group ^[15]. In 2001 these two companies were separated from James Hardie and acquired by the Medical Research and Compensation Foundation (MRCF) which was essentially to act as an administrator for Hardie's asbestos liabilities. Then CEO of James Hardie, Peter McDonald, made public announcements emphasising that the MRCF had sufficient funds to meet all future claims and that James Hardie would not give it any further substantial funds. Indeed, the net assets of the MRCF were AU$293 million, mostly in real estate and loans, and exceeded the 'best estimate' of $286 million in liabilities which had been estimated in an actuarial report commissioned by James Hardie ^[16]. After this separation, James Hardie moved offshore to the Netherlands for what it claimed were significant tax advantages for the company and its shareholders. To make this move, the company had to assure Australian courts (as it was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange) that the MRCF would be able to meet future liabilities. The courts were assured of this and that more money would be made available to its Australian asbestos victims if it were needed ^[17]. Shortly after, an actuarial report found that James Hardie asbestos liabilities were likely to reach AU$574.3 million ^[18]. The MRCF sought extra funding from James Hardie and was offered AU$18 million in assets, an offer which the MRCF rejected. The estimate of asbestos liabilities was promptly revised to AU$751.8 million in 2002 and then AU$1.573 billion in 2003 ^[19] In discussing the shortfall with the MRCF, James Hardie refused to accept further responsibility for the liabilities on the basis that the MRCF and James Hardie were separate legal entities ^[20]. The funding shortfall became of increasing concern in 2004 as it became clear that eligible victims would miss out on receiving compensation.

On 12 February a judicial inquiry in New South Wales was commissioned by the NSW government. The findings^[21] were very critical of James Hardie and its management. Amongst other findings, it found that the actuarial reports commissioned by James Hardie which estimated liabilities at AU$286 million were inadequate because they used a financial model which made unfounded predictions on the value of investments held by Amaca and Amaba, the figures were subject to numerous unspecified conditions and they did not account for the effect of separating Amaca and Amaba from James Hardie ^[22]. However, the inquiry found that James Hardie was under no legal obligation to provide compensation ^[23]. Despite this finding, there was immense political and social pressure on James Hardie to negotiate a compensation deal ^[24]; governments were boycotting James Hardie products^[25] and unions were threatening to instigate a global union movement against the company based on a black ban of James Hardie products^[26].

Following the results of the inquiry, James Hardie entered into negotiations with governments and trade unions in an effort to establish some sort of compensation system for eligible victims of James Hardie's products. In December 2004, James Hardie agreed to pay compensation to the victims of its products through a voluntary compensation fund. The details of the fund were to be legally determined by June 2005 but progress was stalled and the company refused to disclose the date the deal would be finalised ^[27]. Further conflicts between the company and the then federal government over tax deductibility of donations to the voluntary fund saw finalisation of the deal further delayed. It was not until November 2006, after the federal government had created 'black hole' tax legislation^[28], which made the contributions of James Hardie into the voluntary fund tax deductible, and had granted the voluntary fund tax-exempt status, that James Hardie finalised the compensation deal. There was immense pressure on the federal government from state governments, union leaders and victims to remove the tax problem. Sexton ^[29] claims that the federal government agreed to these conditions to avoid being seen as blocking the compensation. The final step in giving the voluntary fund a legal structure was approval of the scheme by James Hardie shareholders. In February 2007, 99.6% of shareholders voted in favour of the scheme and it began operating days later ^[30].

Subsequent to the inquiry in 2004, prosecutors were considering bringing civil and criminal charges against the C.E.O. and other senior executives for making fradulent statements as to the liquidity of the MRCF ^[31]. In February 2007 every member of the 2001 board and some members of senior management were charged by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) with a range of breaches of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) including breach of director's duties by failing to act with care and diligence^[32]. The case is currently being heard before the NSW Supreme Court. ASIC also undertook investigations into possible criminal charges against the company's executives but in September 2008 the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions decided there was insufficient evidence and charges were not pursued^[33].

It has now been revealed that the tax benefits which James Hardie expected to receive as a result from its move to the Netherlands will not eventuate^[2].

On 27 November 2007, Australian political campaigner, Bernie Banton, died at his home after having suffered asbestosis, mesothelioma and Asbestos-Related Pleural Disease (ARPD)^{[citation needed]}. Bernie Banton contracted these diseases after working for James Hardie for 6 years. He was the public face of asbestos victims in Australia and was closely involved in the negotiations between James Hardie, unions and governments from 2004 to 2007.

See also

• Asbestos and the law
• Australian Blue Asbestos
• J W Roberts asbestos incident

References

1. James Hardie (1851-1920) Gravesite at the Brighton General Cemetery (Vic)

1. ^ Australian Council of Trade Unions (2007) James Hardie Asbestos Victims Compensation Background Facts [online], Available from: www.actu.asn.au/Images/Dynamic/attachments/5055/James%20Hardie%20Fact%20Sheet%20080207.doc
2. ^ ^{a b} Sexton, E. (2009, 14 March) 'Dust to Dust' The Sydney Morning Herald [online] Available from: http://business.smh.com.au/business/dust-to-dust-20090313-8xww.html
3. ^ Handen Zeren, E., Gurmurdulu, D, Roggli, V. et al. (2000). ‘Environmental Malignant Mesothelioma in Southern Anatolia: A Study of Fifty Cases’. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 108(11): 1047-1050.
4. ^ Prince, P., Davidson, J., Dudley, S. (2004) In the Shadow of the Corporate Veil [online] Available from www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rn/2004-05/05m12.htm p.1
5. ^ Prince et al. op cit. p.1
6. ^ Australian Council of Trade Unions (2007) James Hardie Asbestos Victims Compensation Background Facts [online], Available from: www.actu.asn.au/Images/Dynamic/attachments/5055/James%20Hardie%20Fact%20Sheet%20080207.doc p.2
7. ^ ACTU op cit. p.2
8. ^ ACTU op cit. p. 2, Leigh, J., Davidson, P., Hendrie, L., Berry, D. (2002). ‘Malignant Mesolthelioma in Australia, 1945-2000’. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 41(3): 188-201.
9. ^ Brown, M., (2004, 25 September) ‘When Love and Home Can Kill’ The Sydney Morning Herald p. 34.
10. ^ Haigh, G. (2006). Asbestos House. Scribe, Victoria. p. 137-138
11. ^ Jarron, C. (2009). Corporations as Social Institutions: A Sociological Perspective on the Legal Regulation of Corporations. VDM Publishers, Saarbrücken.
12. ^ Sexton, E. and Stephens, T. (2004, 25 September). ‘Lives in the Dust’. The Sydney Morning Herald p. 27.
13. ^ Haigh, op. cit. p. 130
14. ^ ACTU op cit. p. 3
15. ^ ACTU op cit. p.3
16. ^ Jackson, D. (2004) Report of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Medical Research Fund and Compensation Foundation [online], Available from: http://www.dpc.nsw.gov.au/publications/publications/publication_list_-_new#11330 p. 9
17. ^ ACTU op cit. p. 3
18. ^ Jackson op cit. p. 30
19. ^ Jackson op. cit. p.31
20. ^ Jackson op. cit. p. 461
21. ^ Jackson op cit.
22. ^ Jackson op cit. p. 9
23. ^ Jackson op cit. p. 37
24. ^ Jarron op cit. p.57-62
25. ^ Sexton, E. (26 October 2004b). ‘Hardie Promises to Support Victims’. The Sydney Morning Herald p. 2.
26. ^ Skulley, M. (2004, 30 July). ‘Building Unions Black-Ban Products’. The Australian Financial Review p. 8.
27. ^ Higgins, E. (2004, 21 September). ‘Hardie Report ‘Not End of Fight’’. The Australian p 3.
28. ^ Tax Laws Amendment (2006 Measures No. 1) Act 2006 Cth
29. ^ Sexton, E. (2006, 24 June). ‘James Hardie Compo Deal in Doubt After Tax Ruling’. The Sydney Morning Herald p. 5
30. ^ No author (2007, 7 February) 'James Hardie compensation deal approved' The Sydney Morning Herald [online] Available at: http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/james-hardie-compensation-deal-approved/2007/02/07/1170524167926.html
31. ^ Sexton, E. (2007b, 21 November). ‘Fresh Go at Hardie Granted’. The Sydney Morning Herald p. 2.
32. ^ Australian Securities and Investments Commission (2007b). 'ASIC Commences Proceedings Relating to James Hardie' [online], Available from: http://www.asic.gov.au/asic/asic.nsf/byheadline/07-35+ASIC+commences+proceedings+relating+to+James+Hardie?openDocument
33. ^ Hall, E. (2008, 5 September). ‘ASIC Drops Criminal Pursuit of James Hardie’. Transcript from Radio National programme The World Today [online], Available from: http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2008/s2356428.htm

Further Reading

Jarron, C. (2009). Corporations as Social Institutions: A Sociological Perspective on the Legal Regulation of Corporations. VDM Publishers, Saarbrücken. ISBN 978-3-639-19299-5

External links

• James Hardie
• James Hardie, US
• James Hardie asbestos compensation pages
• NSW Dust Disease Tribunal
• The report of the special commission of inquiry into James Hardie.
• Commonwealth Law removing legal privilege from documents belonging to James Hardie
• Australian government paper on James Hardie's 2001 restructure and its effects
• World Asbestos Report

Wikinews has related news: Compensation funding agreement reached for Australian asbestos victims

News items related to inquiry

• James Hardie inquiry told law reforms needed (ABC)
• James Hardie Ltd accused of underestimating compensation costs (ABC)

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