Oman: Raysut Cement's profits rise

Raysut Cement Co (RCC), the sultanate's biggest cement producer, announced a 64.1 per cent growth in net profit at OMR24.53m (US$63.7m) for 2012, against OMR14.95m posted for the previous year.
The company said its revenue also moved up to OMR92.8m from OMR83.81m , while cost of sales was edged up to OMR62.88m from OMR61.86m.

"Net profit of OMR7.7m for the fourth quarter (65 per cent YoY growth), was higher than our estimate of OMR5.9m, as RCC booked an investment gain of OMR1.36m. Excluding this investment gain, recurring net profit was only eight per cent above our estimate," EFG Hermes said in a research note.

"Overall, RCC reported a good set of numbers, confirming our positive outlook on the cement sector. The margin improvement quarter on quarter was a positive surprise. We expect stable/moderate increases in cement prices and solid YoY volume growth to be sustained, backed by infrastructure developments in Oman," added the research note.