Oman Cement Co (OCC) posted a 4.3 per cent rise in net profit before tax for the first six months of this year, despite a drop in sales.

The sultanate’s second-largest cement producer by capacity reported a pretax profit of OMR9.9m (US$25.7m) during the period compared to OMR9.5m in 1H13.

Sales in the first half of 2014 stood at OMR3.7m, down 5.9 per cent on the OMR27.3m seen in the comparative period of last year.