Athi River Mining, Kenya’s third-largest cement company, said the market remained buoyant when reporting a 12.6 per cent rise in nine-month pretax profit.

"Going forward, the company expects margins to improve in the cement business with the increase in capacity," ARM said on Friday.

January-September pretax profit rose to KES762m (US$9.5m), helped by 16 per cent higher revenue.

Earnings per share rose 15 per cent to KES6.98.

Strong growth in construction – 18 per cent in the second quarter – has been underpinning a recovery in east Africa’s biggest economy where growth was seen around six per cent in 2011, compared with a projected 5 per cent this year.