Corporate Results: Maple Leaf posts Rs1.43b net profit

Announces 10% cash dividend with the results.

KARACHI: Higher volumetric sales and lower coal prices helped Maple Leaf Cement beat market expectations as the company boosted its revenue by a tenth in the six months that ended on December 31, 2014.

According to an official notification sent to the Karachi Stock Exchange on Tuesday, the company posted an after-tax profit of Rs1.43 billion or Rs2.72 per share in the first half of 2014-15.

Though earnings were down 3% from Rs1.48 billion or Rs2.81 per share in the corresponding period of last year, the results were above expectations, according to Topline Securities.

Following the result announcement, which was accompanied by a 10% cash dividend of Rs1 per share, the company saw healthy volumes as 38 million shares changed hands by the time the stock market closed on Tuesday.

The announcement of its first-ever interim dividend was a surprise for the investors, Topline said. The company had restructured its Rs12 billion debt in 2010, restricting it from paying any dividend until 50% of the debt was paid.

A subsidiary of Kohinoor Maple Leaf Group – a division of Saigol Group of Companies, Maple Leaf Cement grossed Rs9.6 billion in revenues during the period under review, up 9.4% compared to Rs8.8 billion in the corresponding period of last year.

Growth in sales was mainly driven by a 7% increase in volumetric sales to 1.3 million tons in July-December 2014 compared to 1.2 million tons in the same period in 2013, Topline said. Moreover, average net retention prices clocked up 2%. Financial charges, on the other hand, recorded a decline of 25% .

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2015.

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