Cement trader Kuwait Portland Cement boosted its net profit to KWD2.04m (US$6.99m) for the first quarter of 2009, up from KWD42,168 a year earlier, the company said yesterday in a statement to the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE).

Earnings per share (EPS) stood at 24.74 fils, versus 0.51 fils. The total assets declined to KWD52.8m at end-March 2009 from KWD89.3m a year ago.

The company slipped into a net loss of KWD8.6m in 2008, versus a net profit of KWD10.8m a year earlier.

Source: Middle East and Africa News Digest