Attock Cement’s earnings increase to Rs1.15b

Profit is up 12.5% during July-December 2015, result slightly above expectations

KARACHI: Expansion in margins and lower fuel and energy costs helped Attock Cement boost its net earnings by more than a tenth to over Rs1 billion during July-December period of 2015, according to the company’s financial results released on Wednesday.

A subsidiary of Pharaon Group - a group of companies with investments in cement, oil & gas, power generation and information technology sectors - the company earned an after-tax profit of Rs1.15 billion or Rs10.07 per share in the second half of 2015, up 12.5% compared to Rs1.02 billion or Rs8.95 per share it earned in the same period last year.



The results were slightly above market expectations, according to market analysts we spoke to. The stock - which traded at Rs180.08 per share the last day - decreased by by Rs6.03 per share or 3.34% to settle at Rs174.05 per share at the close of market on Wednesday as more than 100,000 shares changed hands.

“The growth in earnings can be attributed to change of sales mix in favour of high margin local dispatches, lower fuel and power costs and reduced distribution expenses due to declining export sales,” BMA Capital said in its report.

In the latest quarter alone, the report said, the company reported earnings of Rs671 million or Rs5.86 per share compared to Rs481 million or Rs4.2 per share of the preceding quarter, which translates to a quarter-on-quarter growth of 40%.

The growth in earnings came on the back of 23.2% growth in revenues amid higher dispatches and expansion in margins, which improved by 70 basis points due to lower fuel and power cost, the report said.

In contrast to the precedence, the company did not announce any dividends for the review period. “This might be on account of the upcoming expansion,” it added.

In the previous quarter, the maker of Falcon Cement had announced to expand its production capacity by installing a $120 million cement plant at the existing facility in Hub, Balochistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th,  2016.

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