Lucky Cement's nine-month net profit ahead, Pakistan

Lucky Cement, has reported a 49 per cent YoY rise in net profit for the first nine months of FY13 as Pakistan’s largest cement producer by capacity is boosted by higher prices.

For the nine month period ending March 2013, the company reported a profit of PKR6.98bn. The company's local cement dispatches rose 2.8 per cent YoY to 2.77Mt while export sales declined by 1.1 per cent YoY to 1.66Mt. Total dispatches stood at 4.43Mt, up by 1.3 per cent.

Higher retention prices drove the top-line up by 16 per cent YoY to PKR27.7bn. Going forward, higher cement prices and increased seasonal demand in the forthcoming quarter as well as lower coal prices are likely to improve gross margins, according to local analysts.

Third quarter sales were 18 per cent higher compared to the previous quarter due to a nine per cent QoQ rise in total dispatches coupled with higher prices.

Lucky Cement operates two cement plants in Pakistan with a combined capacity of 7.5Mta. The company is also expanding beyond its domestic market with a 1.5Mta joint venture plant under construction in the central African country of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is also constructing a grinding facility as a joint venture partner in Basra, Iraq which is scheduled for completion by the end of this year.