China: Anhui Conch suffers 32% profit fall in 2015

China's largest cement maker, Anhui Conch, reported a 32 per cent fall in 2015 net profit on Wednesday, marking its first profit fall in three years as a slowing Chinese economy was reflected in a contracting construction market and reduced cement demand.

Anhui Conch also warned that the cement industry's oversupply situation could worsen this year as growth in China's fixed investments was slowing on the back of the weaker economy, reported Reuters.
"Market competition in the first half of the year was quite intense and it is expected that sector losses will widen further," Anhui Conch said in a statement on the Shanghai stock exchange.

In 2015 Anhui Conch Cement Co Ltd's net profit came in at CNY7.5bn (US$1.15bn), lower than the previous year's CNY11bn and falling short of an average estimate of CNY8.1bn, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The company had registered net profit rises in 2013 and 2014.

Anhui Conch aims to produce 10 per cent more cement and clinker this year, banking on expectations that the construction sector will pick up some speed in the second half of the year.