Chilanga Cement Records K72,402m pre-tax profit

Zambia’s Chilanga Cement Plc has announced a net pre-tax profit of K72,402m for 2003. According to interim results released by company secretary George Varghese last week, the company has recorded an improvement over the K49,721m recorded in 2002.

He attributed the performance to higher sales volumes arising from increased domestic market demand and the upturn experienced in the economy, which led to positive gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

"The increased sales volumes in both the domestic and export markets impacted positively on the revenues of the company [while] cost saving measures implemented during the year contributed positively to the reduction in operating costs," Varghese explained.

The export market also grew significantly during the year, mainly Burundi and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). A total of 85,000t of cement and clinker was exported during the year earning valuable foreign exchange for the country."

Varghese stated that the improved production figures resulted from the re-commissioning of Kiln 2, which had been idle since 2000, at Chilanga works and the refurbishment of Kiln 2 at Ndola works. These and other capital expenses totaled K10.7bn.