Business / Companies
Lafarge profits rises on the back of increased cement demand
29 Mar 2012 at 09:37hrs | Views
A good set of results from Lafarge as the bottomline grew by a high of 30% despite a depressed H1 2011 when the group was carrying out its refurbishment exercise.
The group noted that although there are still no major construction activities resulting in low cement uptake, cement demand for individual home projects has increased. Thus revenue grew by 19% to $49.7 million as total cement sales volumes firmed by 4% against a 19% decline in export volumes (culminating from an increased focus on local domestic demand). The operating profit margin firmed from 9.6% to 11.1%, whilst the PBT was $5 million (FY 2010: $3.7 million).
The balance sheet strengthened from the prior period, with the current ratio moving up from 1.06x to 1.13x whilst gearing worsened marginally to 13.7% from 12.0% as the group increased short term borrowings from $2.4 million to $3.3 million to fund working capital during the plant shutdown period. A total of $5.6 million (FY 2010: $3.7 million) was generated from operating activities whilst the closing cash position was $2.6 million.
Management is currently focusing on benchmarking its activities against fellow subsidiaries in the Lafarge Group in order to contain high operating costs through measures such as headcount reduction.
The group noted that although there are still no major construction activities resulting in low cement uptake, cement demand for individual home projects has increased. Thus revenue grew by 19% to $49.7 million as total cement sales volumes firmed by 4% against a 19% decline in export volumes (culminating from an increased focus on local domestic demand). The operating profit margin firmed from 9.6% to 11.1%, whilst the PBT was $5 million (FY 2010: $3.7 million).
The balance sheet strengthened from the prior period, with the current ratio moving up from 1.06x to 1.13x whilst gearing worsened marginally to 13.7% from 12.0% as the group increased short term borrowings from $2.4 million to $3.3 million to fund working capital during the plant shutdown period. A total of $5.6 million (FY 2010: $3.7 million) was generated from operating activities whilst the closing cash position was $2.6 million.
Management is currently focusing on benchmarking its activities against fellow subsidiaries in the Lafarge Group in order to contain high operating costs through measures such as headcount reduction.
Source - Byo24News
