Hanson Will Split Into 4 in Bid for Higher Profit

U.S.-British industrial giant Hanson said Tuesday that it will split into four companies in a bid to streamline its business and boost profit.

The move completes a breakup that began last year, when Hanson spun off 34 U.S. businesses with sales of about $3 billion to form U.S. Industries Inc.

The four companies will cover the areas of energy, chemicals, tobacco, and building materials and equipment.

The energy company will be called Energy Resources and will include British utility Eastern Energy and Peabody Coal, the largest U.S. coal miner.

Another unit, Hanson Industries, will include Cleveland-based Quantum Chemicals, SCM Chemicals and Glidco.

The third company, Imperial Tobacco, is Britain’s second-biggest tobacco company. It reported $522 million of operating profit in fiscal 1995.

Shares of those three companies will be listed separately, while the construction supply unit--Britain’s biggest building materials company--will retain both the Hanson name and its listing in London and New York.

Hanson is Britain’s 16th-largest company.

Its American depositary receipts shares climbed 89 cents to $16.64 in New York Stock Exchange trading.