Lafarge Morocco 2H profit drops as revenue falls
Lafarge Ciments, the Moroccan affiliate of Lafarge, posted a 17.6 per cent drop in second-half profit after under-performing rivals in sales amid a slowdown in demand which it expects to overcome this year, Reuters reports.
The company reported a net profit of MOD726m (US$88.5m) for the six months through December, down from MOD881m a year earlier, based on Reuters calculations.
For all of 2010, it earned MOD1.68bn, compared with MOD953m during the first half of last year and MOD1.86bn for all of 2009.
Revenue for 2010 fell 1.6 per cent to MOD5.35bn. After reporting a one per cent drop in the first half’s turnover to MOD2.79bn, Lafarge Ciments’ calculated revenue for the second half stands at MOD2.56bn, or about two per cent less than a year earlier.
"Our cement sales recorded a 4.7 per cent decline in an almost-stable market (that added) 0.4 per cent," said Lafarge Ciments, which blamed a drop in demand from its traditionally key market in the north of the country and the addition of rival capacity elsewhere. Published under Cement News
