Pakistan’s Lucky Q1 net profit up 53 per cent
Pakistan’s biggest cement manufacturer, Lucky Cement, reported on Monday a 53 per cent rise in earnings for the quarter ending on Sept. 30, which analysts said was due to higher sales and cement prices.
Lucky, in a statement to the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), reported net profit of 730.60 million rupees for the July-September period, up from 478 million rupees in the corresponding period a year ago.
This translates into an earning per share of 2.77 rupees.
"The growth in earning is mainly due to a rise in sales and an increase in exports," said Bilal Hameed, analyst at JS Global Capital Ltd.
Lucky’s sales increased by 15.3 percent to 3651 million rupees.
Lucky also recieved a tax refund as its profit before tax was 567.66 million rupees and profit after tax totalled 730.60 million rupees.
The result was within market expectations. Forecasts by six analysts surveyed by Reuters ranged between 558 million rupees and 807 million rupees.
Analysts said Lucky’s profits are expected to increase as it can take advantage of the regional cement shortage.
In August India granted a license to Lucky to export cement to India, the first such permission for a Pakistani firm.
Lucky also plans to issue global depository receipts within the current calendar year to raise funds for expansion plans.
It aims to raise its cement manufacturing capacity by 2.5Mta by building two additional lines in Karachi. Published under Cement News
