Tvornica Cementa Kakanj (TCK), a Bosnian cement plant owned by Germany’s Heidelberg Cement, said on Tuesday it planned to invest Euro 8.3m next year, mostly in modernising its concrete production facilities.  "Part of the investment will be used for the strengthening of our transport facilities, improving temperature measurement in the furnaces and upgrading our cement factories," TCK said in a statement.
 
The company has invested Euro 5.0m  in the first 11 months of this year. Most of the investment was used to finance the opening of a new limestone quarry that would enable the company to use its own resources, the statement read. 
 
TCK posted a net profit of 3.67 million marka (Euro 1.87m) in the first half of 2005, down 27 per cent on the year, as revenue fell 21.6 per cent.  "The basic reason for the drop in the first-half profit and revenue was the severe winter that lasted for the first four months of the year, causing a fall in construction works not only in Bosnia but all across Europe," the company said. 
 
The persistently falling cement consumption in Bosnia over the last three years due to the inadequate volume of public construction works and the higher price of coal pushing up fuel costs also contributed for the drop in the company’s revenue, TCK said. 
 
Heidelberg Cement bought initially 51 per cent in TCK from the state in 2000. The German company raised its stake subsequently and has owned 73.94 per cent of TCK since 2003. TCK had a record-high output of 608,000t of cement in 2004, up from 535,000t the previous year. It also produced a record high 449,000t of clinker last year, up from 422,000t in 2003.