Fujairah Cement reported increased sales in the six months to June 2012 of 16 per cent to US$$83.6m in the six months to June 30 and it reversed a $2.4m loss last year into a $5.5m profit.

Earnings per share also climbed to 1.55 cents (5.7 fils), compared to a loss of 0.68 cents (2.5 fils) last year.

Despite this, however, the company said that the recession that has been felt in the construction sector is "continuing".

A statement accompanying the firm's results from general manager Nasser Ali Khammas said: "In addition, the high price of material used in the operations, high transportation costs due to high prices of petroleum and diesel and the decline in the selling prices has led to negative direct effect on the profitability of the company."