ARM Cement to spin off non-cement business

Kenya-based ARM Cement plans to spin off and list non-cement business on the Nairobi bourse within three years.

“We are very hopeful that in two to three years, we will have listed the new non-cement business and market it as an independent brand in the region,” managing director, said Pradeep Paunrana, adding that the company is laying grounds for the separation.

“The businesses are intricately related and dependent, therefore, it would not be in the benefit of the company to have independent management,” said ARM.

The cement and lime business accounted for 82 per cent of ARM sales last year, with the fertiliser and industrial minerals division taking the remaining share.

The company reported a 28 per cent rise in first half net profit to KES702m compared to KES550m in the same period of last year helped by rising sales.

The company’s focus expanding its cement business has helped raise sales by 28 per cent to KES6.49bn in the six months to the end of June. The company has commissioned a new 0.75Mta cement plant in the capital of Tanzania which accounted for 8.7 per cent of ARM’s sales last year. It also has operations in South Africa and Rwanda. Last year it received a US$50m loan from the Africa Finance Corp to raise production.