TCC posts $60m profit as sales rise
TCC International Holdings, a cement manufacturer, importer and distributor, reported a net profit of HK$60.1m through June, compared to a loss of HK$24.2m in the same period last year.
Earnings per share was 7.8 HK cents. The company did not recommend an interim dividend.
The bottom line improved mainly as a result of rising cement selling price and higher sales volume, along with cost efficiencies achieved at the manufacturing bases in Yingde and Fuzhou.
The Yingde plant with an annual production capacity of 4Mt, reported sales volume of 2Mt by the end of June.
Chairman Leslie Koo Cheng- yun expects profitability of the Yingde plant to further improve as the third and fourth production lines become operational in December and the first quarter of next year, respectively.
This will lift annual capacity to 9Mt of clinker and cement.
Turnover during the first half amounted to HK$716.2m, doubling from last year’s HK$347.5m. Revenue soared largely because of the increase in sales volume.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, revenue of the cement import and distribution business fell 21.1 percent from last year’s HK$77.7m to HK$61.3m, due to a slowdown in construction from January to June.
A 60 percent-owned slag powder joint venture with Guangxi Liuzhou Steel recorded a 25.5 per cent increase in sales. As sales soared, Profit grew 80 per cent.
TCC International expects profitability of the Guangxi venture to improve in the second half supported by demand for slag powder in Guangxi province, where there is a shortfall.
Koo said a new production line at the Guangxi plant will add capacity of 700,000t in the fourth quarter.
Published under Cement News
