Pakistan’s Lucky Cement profit rises on higher sales
Lucky Cement Ltd., Pakistan’s biggest producer of the building material, said first quarter profit rose 14.5 per cent, aided by higher sales and lower costs.
Net income rose to PKR1.1bn (US$13.2m), or 3.41 rupees a share, in the three months ended September 30 from PKR962.9m, or 2.98 rupees, a year earlier, the Karachi-based cement maker said today in a statement to the stock exchange. Sales rose 2.6 per cent to PKR7.04bn.
“The lower prices in local and international markets capped the increase in sales revenue,” said Farhan Bashir, who has a “buy” recommendation on the stock at Invest Capital Ltd. in Karachi. “Profit still rose well because of lower financial costs.”
The cement maker borrowed 10 billion rupees to expand its production capacity in 2006, of which 4.3 billion rupees still needed to be paid back as of June 30, according to Invest Capital. The company increased its capacity to 7.7 million tons a year from 2.7 million tons three years ago.
Lucky Cement’s loan costs fell to PKR154.5m from PKR320.7m a year ago, according to the statement. Published under Cement News
