The extraordinary general shareholders’ meeting of UAE cement maker Gulf Cement Company approved on April 13, 2005 a 20 per cent bonus issue for 2004, which is to raise the company’s paid-up capital to 317.5 mln UAE dirhams ($86.4m) from 264.6 mln dirhams ($72m).

The company’s shareholders also voted for a further 15 per cent increase in the capital via a rights issue of 47,636,867 shares. The net profit of Gulf Cement jumped to 186.74 mln dirhams ($50.8m) in 2004 from 67.75 mln dirhams ($18.4m) in 2003.
The company’s net sales rose 96 pct year-on-year in 2004.