Crown Cement's net profits rise 649% in 1HFY23-24

Crown Cement PLC, one of Bangladesh’s leading cement manufacturers, recently uploaded its financial results on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSX). The company witnessed a hefty surge in profit between July and December 2023 due to higher sales and other income from the shipping business. It earned a profit of BDT706.18m (US$6.436m) compared to BDT94.28m in July-December 2022, a YoY increase of 649 per cent. The company also attributed the expansion in profit to the rise in prices of cement bags by 7.5 per cent and a volume of 9.7 per cent during this period.

The company saw its sales balloon by 17.9 per cent, BDT13.32bn, against BDT11.30bn during this period. The cost of sales, as a result, also increased to BDT10.96bn from BDT9.70bn in 1HFY21-22. The price rise could result from the devaluation of the local currency against the dollar, making the import cost of raw materials expensive. The administrative expenses stood at BDT147.32m (BDT136.63m in 1HFY21-22), and selling and distribution at BDT316m from BDT249m during this period. Fiancé and income tax were also jumped during the accounting period.

Crown Cement PLC is the largest cement exporter in Bangladesh, with around 50 per cent of the market share of cement exported from Bangladesh. The major export market of Crown Cement is the northeastern States of India, including Tripura, Meghalaya, and the Eastern and Western regions of Assam.

Last month, Crown Cement announced the start of commercial production of its sixth unit, with a production capacity of 8280tpd at its factory premises in West Mukterpur, Munshiganj. With the sixth unit, Crown Cement’s production capacity will reach 19,000tpd, or 5.7Mta, whereas it was 11,000tpd a year ago, according to the company’s FY22-23 annual report.