Pakistan: Lucky Cement Limited has reported a year-on-year rise of 43.2% in profit after tax to US$91.9m for the year ending on 30 June 2013, from US$64.1m for the same period in 2012. This is the highest profit the Pakistan-based cement producer has ever recorded.
Sales by Lucky Cement rose by 12% to US$414m from US$370m. The company saw cement sales volumes grow by 1.4% to 6.06Mt from 5.97Mt. Local sales rose by 1.3% to 3.77Mt from 3.72Mt. Exports grew by 1.7% to 2.29Mt from 2.25Mt.
In its annual report Lucky Cement announced that two vertical grinding mills at its Karachi cement plant are scheduled to become operational in the last quarter of the 2013 – 2014 financial year and in September 2014 respectively. A tyre-derived fuel plant is planned to replace coal usage at it Pezu plant. The company is also in neogiation to supply surplus electricity generated at Pezu to the Peshawar Electric Company.
Overseas projects include a joint-venture cement plant in Democratic Republic of Congo, which is at the financial stage, and a joint-venture cement grinding plant in Iraq, which is due for completion at the end of October 2013 with commissioning and trial production due from early November 2013.
In its outlook Lucky Cement noted that cement consumption will rise in Pakistan due to the government's funding of the Public Sector Development Programme. However, rises in utility costs, weakening local currency and other factors will present challenges to the cement industry. The company intends to mitigate utility cost rises by investing in waste heat recovery systems at its Karachi and Pezu captive power plants. Each plant will producer 5MW, with expected completion set for December 2014.
