Prosperity Minerals FY pretax profit up 37 per cent; revenues rise 46 per cent

Prosperity Minerals Holdings Ltd said its full-year pretax profit increased 37 per cent and it expects further progress in the current year.  
 
The cement manufacturing and iron ore trading group said pretax profit for the year to March 31 was US$45.9m, compared with US$33.6m last year, while revenues rose 46 per cent to US$331.3m from US$226.4m.  
 
It said the full-year results were achieved despite a weather-affected first half and difficult trading conditions in July and August, particularly for iron ore, which saw a sharp fall in both operating profits and margins.  
 
For the fourth quarter, Prosperity Minerals’ pretax profit rose to US$10m from US$5.8m, while revenues soared 142 per cent to US$87.5m.  
 
It also declared a final dividend of 12 cents, taking the total dividend to 18 cents. 
 
The company said trading in the opening two months of the new year has been good with a marked increase in cement prices and increased month-on-month tonnages of iron ore from Thailand.