Lucky Cement on Monday announced it has booked profits of Rs1,908 million with earning per share (EPS) of Rs5.90 in the first half of fiscal year 2009-10 (1HFY10) versus Rs1,938 million with EPS of Rs5.99 in the same period of previous year, showing a two per cent decline.

Local cement dispatches of the company increased 12 per cent to 1.3Mt while exports continued to be strong reaching 1.8Mt, up 29 per cent year-on-year (YoY), JS Research reported.

Total dispatches stood at 3.2Mt, up 21 per cent (YoY). Despite the hefty decline in retention prices, accumulation of coal at lower prices resulted in gross margin falling by only 202bps to 37 per cent.

Moreover, with reduced debt levels and lower interest rates, financial cost of the company fell by 64 per cent YoY, it said.
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