Pakistan’s Maple Leaf Cement has reported a 4.2 per cent YoY fall in its profit after tax for the year ended 30 June 2018. Profit for the period came in at PKR4.572bn (US$37.1m) with earnings per share of PKR7.92. Sales for the year improved by 7.5 per cent to reach PKR25.684bn, compared to PKR23.885bn in the year-ago period. However, the cost of sales surged by 25 per cent YoY due to rising coal prices. Gross profit was down 21 per cent YoY, according to Reuters. The company declared an interim dividend of PKR1/share in addition to the interim dividend of PKR1.50/share already paid.

Maple Leaf is currently building a new dry-process line at its existing site in Iskandarabad. The 7300tpd line will boost total cement production capacity to 18,000tpd. The PKR25bn project is expected to begin production in the 4QFY19.