Lucky Cement net profit: from billion to million
Lucky Cement’s net profit drops 34% to Rs726.7 million in first nine months of 2010 from last year’s Rs1.1 billion.
KARACHI:
Lucky Cement’s net profit dropped 34 per cent to Rs726.7 million in the first nine months of 2010 from last year’s Rs1.1 billion on the back of decline in cement prices and drop in sales.
The sales volume fell 7.6 per cent mainly due to an 18 per cent drop in export sales.
However, the largest cement-maker managed to increase sales in the local market by two per cent during the first quarter (July-September) of financial year 2010-11 despite a decline of 16 per cent in the entire industry sales.
Cement demand has started picking up in October as floodwater recedes and is expected to stabilise in fiscal year 2011, anticipate company officials and analysts.
The company’s net sales declined 7.6 per cent to Rs5.58 billion during the nine-month period against Rs6.04 billion posted in the same period last year, according to a notice sent to the stock exchange on Thursday.
Sales from the northern plant picked up while sales from the southern plant dropped 51 per cent on a monthly basis as the company suffered a setback in exports to Sri Lanka due to regulatory issues.
Gross margins declined by six per cent compared with last year’s margins.
Despite all odds, the performance of the company was better than industry average and Lucky’s market share rose from 18.3 per cent to 20.1 per cent.
Distribution costs increased 1.17 per cent to Rs688 million during the first nine months of 2010 from Rs680 million because of increase in inland freight cost.
The demand of cement in regional markets except for Afghanistan and Iraq is expected to remain under pressure, said company directors in the result review. However, Africa will continue to offer potential export markets.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 22nd, 2010.
Lucky Cement’s net profit dropped 34 per cent to Rs726.7 million in the first nine months of 2010 from last year’s Rs1.1 billion on the back of decline in cement prices and drop in sales.
The sales volume fell 7.6 per cent mainly due to an 18 per cent drop in export sales.
However, the largest cement-maker managed to increase sales in the local market by two per cent during the first quarter (July-September) of financial year 2010-11 despite a decline of 16 per cent in the entire industry sales.
Cement demand has started picking up in October as floodwater recedes and is expected to stabilise in fiscal year 2011, anticipate company officials and analysts.
The company’s net sales declined 7.6 per cent to Rs5.58 billion during the nine-month period against Rs6.04 billion posted in the same period last year, according to a notice sent to the stock exchange on Thursday.
Sales from the northern plant picked up while sales from the southern plant dropped 51 per cent on a monthly basis as the company suffered a setback in exports to Sri Lanka due to regulatory issues.
Gross margins declined by six per cent compared with last year’s margins.
Despite all odds, the performance of the company was better than industry average and Lucky’s market share rose from 18.3 per cent to 20.1 per cent.
Distribution costs increased 1.17 per cent to Rs688 million during the first nine months of 2010 from Rs680 million because of increase in inland freight cost.
The demand of cement in regional markets except for Afghanistan and Iraq is expected to remain under pressure, said company directors in the result review. However, Africa will continue to offer potential export markets.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 22nd, 2010.