Lafarge Malaysia recorded its fifth consecutive quarter of net losses for the period ended 31 March this year, on weaker demand and higher competition, coupled with the increase in coal and petcoke prices.
The fall in revenue was attributable to the lower sales recorded in the cement business – the biggest revenue contributor for the group at 85 per cent – due to soft market demand, increased industry capacity and pricing pressures.
Lafarge Malaysia's CFO, Michael Lim Yoke Tuan, said, the construction company will 'break even' as and when volume and prices pick up in the industry.
"The current operating environment has seen the industry, as a whole, suffering. When the volume and pricing recover, coupled with the property market picking up and the government sorting out its long-term infrastructure pipeline, then the profits will flow," Mr Lim told members of the press after the group's AGM in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
