Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) On a consolidated basis, Lucky Cement Limited reported net profit after tax of PKR2.96 billion after taking out PKR 0.21 billion attributable to non-controlling interests for the first quarter ended September 30,2018,which translates into earnings per share (EPS) of PKR 9.14 / share as compared to PKR 11.90 / share reported during the same period last year.
Further, on a consolidated basis, the Company achieved gross turnover of PKR 31.32 billion which is 9.2% higher as compared to the same period last year’s turnover of PKR 28.68 billion.
With regards to the Company’s standalone performance, the gross sales revenue of the Company increased by 2.0% to PKR 16.01 billion compared to PKR 15.70 billion reported during the same period last year. The increase in revenue was mainly due to higher volumes and increase in Federal Excise Duty and Sales Tax. Furthermore, on a standalone basis, Lucky Cement recorded net profit after tax of PKR 2.49 billion, which is 17.4% lower as compared to same period last year. Similarly, the standalone EPS of the Company is PKR 7.71 / share which is 17.4% lower as compared to the same period last year’s reported EPS of PKR 9.33 / share.
The local cement sales volume of the Company during the fiscal year registered a decline of 5.9% (North 9.1% and South 2.2%) in the first quarter to reach1.40 million tons compared to 1.48 million tons reported in the same period last year. Whereas, due to no clinker sales during the quarter under review, overall local sales volumes declined by 9.1% to reach 1.40 million tons as compared to 1.54 million tons in the same period last year.On the other hand, export sales volume increased by85.1% to0.50 million tons during the current quarter compared to 0.27 million tons reported during the same period last year.
Lucky Cement also shared progress on its brownfield expansion for cement production of 2.6 million tons per annum at its Pezu Plant and the greenfield investment project for producing 1.2 million tons of clinker at Samawah, Iraq. In addition, the Company also reported progress on its investment projects of 1 X 660 MW supercritical coal based power project at Port Qasim and automobile manufacturing plant under license from Kia Motors Corporation.
Lucky Cement remains committed towards value-creation for the society in which it operates. In this regard, the Company extended numerous scholarships to deserving students for various leading universities in Pakistan and abroad. Keeping in view the importance and impact of women empowerment in Pakistan, the Company in collaboration with Zindagi Trust continued its support for two leading Government girls’ schools in Karachi. The company also continued to donate generously towards health-based initiatives by supporting various welfare organizations. Lucky Cement always takes its responsibility towards environment seriously and in this regard, the company launched a tree plantation drive during the current quarter where free tree samplings were distributed amongst the employees.
Lucky Cement remains positive about the outlook of the Cement Industry on the back of new Government’s initiatives to build both small and mega-capacity / multipurpose water reservoirs/ dams and ‘5 million housing scheme’ which is expected to improve domestic sales. With regards to exports, sales are expected to remain strong in view of favorable market dynamics and increasing demand for Clinker in the regional export markets.
