Lafarge Malayan pre-tax profit up

Lafarge Malayan pre-tax profit up
28 August 2009


Lafarge Malayan Cement Bhd announced that pre-tax profit for its second quarter ended June 30, 2009, rose to RM90.363m from RM66.993m in the corresponding quarter last year.

However, revenue was only marginally higher, at RM630.893m from RM630.618m previously, the group said in a statement on Thursday.

For the half-year period, its pre-tax profit rose to RM191.459m from RM133.286m in the previous corresponding period as revenue went up to RM1.240bn from RM1.190 billion.

Despite the contraction in domestic cement demand, the group recorded in the second quarter the same level of revenue as that of the same quarter in the preceding year.

This was attributed to better cement selling prices (domestic and export) and higher cement export.

Cash flow from operations for the half-year period ended June 30, 2009, almost doubled that of the corresponding period last year due to the improved earnings and strong focus on working capital management, the group said.

"The financial performance of the group is very much dependent on the performance of the Malaysian economy and the domestic construction industry," it said.

Lafarge said there may be a moderate contraction in domestic cement demand in Malaysia for the second half of the year.

Published under Cement News