Asia Cement nine month profit surges, China

Asia Cement said net profit attributable to shareholders for the first nine months of the year rose by 166 per cent YoY to CNY391m (US$64.25m).

Revenue rose by 3.9 per cent from a year earlier to CNY4.92bn. Gross profit increased by 29 per cent to CNY901m with margins of 18 per cent, up by three percentage points on a year earlier.

For full-year 2013 the group anticipates a five per cent YoY rise in sales to 26Mt compared to 24.8Mt in 2012. It expects to continue benefitting from a decline in coal prices and a reduction in production costs.