Asia Cement China net doubles on Sichuan Projects
Asia Cement China Holdings Corp doubled first- quarter profit as it benefited from a slew of building projects in the Sichuan and central Yangtze River regions.
Net income jumped to CNY120m (US$18m) for the six months ended March 31, compared with CNY60.2m a year earlier, the Jiangxi province-based company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange today, without reporting earnings per share. Sales surged 53 per cent to CNY850m. The results are unaudited, the statement said.
Asia Cement, the first Chinese listed company to set up production in Sichuan province, is benefiting from rebuilding after the southwestern province suffered the country’s deadliest earthquake in 32 years in 2008. The company is also winning contracts as the government builds up western China as part of its economic stimulus spending, executives said.
“In the west, fixed-asset investment and GDP growth are stronger than in other regions,” said Phyllis Wang, a Shanghai- based analyst at ABN Amro Asia. “The stimulus package has started, and the impact hasn’t fully materialized.”
Asia Cement has won orders for 500Mt of cement for government projects and may supply to “many more” as the stimulus spending is rolled out, said Executive Director Chang Chen-Kuen. Published under Cement News
