News Desk |
Cement stock performance on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continues unabated. According to a research house report, Pakistan equities closed marginally negative with benchmark KSE100 Index settling at 40,544 levels today. The market kicked off positive and traded in green for the most part of the day but succumbed to losses in the end due to institutional selling.
Cement remained in the limelight owing to receding coal prices. As such, Fauji Cement Co Ltd shares were up 1.66 percent, Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd PA +3.74 percent and DG Khan Cement Co Ltd +4.91 percent and these companies collectively traded 30m shares, putting cement in the top five volume leaders.
CCCL’s Executive Director and Company Secretary, Abid Vazir, said the company’s net sales during the 1HFY18-19 fell to PKR7.032bn from PKR 7.585bn during the first six months of FY17-18.
The trend continued from last week when the shares of top Pakistan’s cement producers at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) become attractive for international and local buyers on anticipation of good results ahead.
Meanwhile, Cherat Cement Company Ltd (CCCL) has announced its financial results for the half year ended 31 December 2018. CCCL declared a net profit of PKR1.02bn (US$7.29m), down by 23.9 percent YoY, as compared to PKR 1.349bn earned in the same period last year.
CCCL’s Executive Director and Company Secretary, Abid Vazir, said the company’s net sales during the 1HFY18-19 fell to PKR7.032bn from PKR 7.585bn during the first six months of FY17-18. It incurred a higher distribution cost of PKR191m against PKR165.22m in the 1HFY17-18. Administrative expenses also increased and stood at PKR147.17m, compared to PKR119.77m incurred in the year-ago period.
Read more: Pakistani cement attracts investors on PSX
The company has a production capacity of 2.42Mta of cement in Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. As reported earlier in January 2019, CCCL has completed the process of setting up its third production line. With this expansion, the production capacity of the company has been increased to approximately 4.5Mta.