Pakistan: Lucky Cement’s net sales rose by 5.7% to US$434m for the financial year that ended on 30 June 2017 from US$428m in the same period in 2016. Its cement sales volumes rose by 3.1% to 7.15Mt from 6.93Mt and its profit after tax rose by 5.8% to US$130m from US$123m. No reason for the good performance was presented in its financial results statement but that it said it was confident in the domestic market due to both resident and public sector construction markets and large scale infrastructure projects driven by the China-Pakistan Ecumenic Corridor initiative.
The cement producer also provided an update on new and on-going expansion projects. Its expansion plans at the Karachi Plant to add a 1.25Mt/yr production line are expected to reach commercial operations in December 2017. It is also in the process of obtaining approvals and authorisations from the state government of Punjab to build a new 2.3Mt/yr plant.