Lahore February 22 2023: Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited reported profit of PKR 4.3 billion in first half of fiscal year 2023 compared with profit of PKR 2.7 billion in the corresponding period last year, according to company filing at the Pakistan Stock Exchange.
Share price of the company jump PKR 1.44 or 6.44 percent after the announcement at Pakistan Stock Exchange.
During the first six months of fiscal year 2023, the Company recorded net consolidated turnover of PKR 30.0 billion against PKR 22.1 billion in the corresponding period last year.
“The top line of the Company increased by 30% mainly due to improvement in selling prices in the local market. Increase in selling prices is mainly due to high inflationary impact on cost side, especially fuel and power” says Company Chairman Tariq Sayeed Saigol.
He added, “Devastating floods have hit the country during the period under review and adversely impacted cement dispatches which in turn affected growth of the construction sector. This is in addition to lackluster implementation of large-scale projects, low utilization of PSDP budget and reduced demand in housing sector which have impacted the growth of the sector negatively.”
“The Company’s capacity enhancement project i.e., Line 4 (7,000 tpd) at its existing plant site has successfully started operations. Importantly, the said project is being financed with a mix of concessionary debt and internally generated cash flows” Chairman added.
Company Chief Executive Officer Sayeed Tariq Saigol says, “Global coal and oil prices remained high mainly because of ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine that has impacted the supply of oil from Russia which in turn caused prices of commodities to increase further. However, the Company was able to keep its fuel and power costs under control by procuring local coal at cheaper rates. The Company is also benefitting by use of pet coke which is cost effective due to higher energy content and inventory of imported coal and pet coke at affordable rates.”
The Company recorded consolidated pre-tax profit of PKR 6.0 billion for the first half of fiscal year 2023 against consolidated pre-tax profit of PKR 3.7 billion in corresponding period. Consolidated tax component amounted to a charge of PKR 1.7 billion for the reporting period as compared to PKR 974 million in the corresponding period mainly due to higher profits and increase in effective tax rate due to imposition of Super Tax.
The above factors have increased post-tax bottom line for the reporting period at a consolidated profit of PKR 4.3 billion as against PKR 2.7 billion for corresponding period last year, representing an increase of 56%
