Kenya: ARM Cement to recover from US$4.6m 1H15 loss

Kenya's ARM Cement stooped to a first-half pretax loss of KES473.52m (US$4.6m), the firm said on Thursday, but said it expected to improve its performance in the 2H15.

"In spite of the recent currency depreciation and increase in interest rates, the fundamentals for continued economic and construction sector growth remain strong," the firm said. "The company expects to significantly improve performance in the second half of the year through cost efficiencies arising from self-sufficiency in clinker and increased sales from all business divisions."

Financing costs rose to KES627.04m in the period to end-June from KES220.97m due to inclusion of costs for construction of a clinker plant in Tanzania.

Total revenue rose to KES7.69bn from KES7.57bn. However, the company incurred a narrower unrealised foreign exchange loss of KES1.42bn in the half year to June from a loss of KES25.8m last year, thanks to the weakening Kenyan and Tanzanian currencies.