Karachi, April 23^rd, 2020 : On a consolidated basis, Lucky Cement Limited reported net profit after tax of PKR 4.65 billion after taking out PKR 1.03 billion attributable to non-controlling interests for the nine months ended March 31, 2020. This translates into earnings per share (EPS) of PKR 14.38 / share as compared to PKR 28.64 / share reported during the same period last year.

Further, on a consolidated basis, the Company achieved gross turnover of PKR 123.99 billion which is 20.0% higher as compared to the same period last year’s turnover of PKR 103.32 billion.

On a standalone basis Company’s, overall sales volumes declined by 2.6% to reach 5.80 million tons during the current nine months ended March 31, 2020. The local cement sales volume registered a decline of 7.0% and were 4.11 million tons in comparison to 4.42 million tons during the same period last year, however, the export sales volumes of the Company improved by 10.4% to reach 1.69 million tons as compared to 1.53 million tons during the same period last year.

Further, with regards to Company’s standalone financial performance, the gross sales revenue decreased by 8.3% to PKR 47.95 billion compared to PKR 52.32 billion reported during the same period last year. This was mainly due to lower sales volumes as a result of competition arising from new capacities and low retentions due to higher transportation and logistics costs. Furthermore, Lucky Cement recorded net profit after tax of PKR 2.94 billion, which is 64.6% lower as compared to same period last year. Similarly, the standalone EPS of the Company is PKR 9.08 / share as compared to the same period last year’s reported EPS of PKR 25.65 / share.

The Company reported progress on the greenfield investment project for producing 1.2 million tons of clinker at Samawah, Iraq and investment projects of 1 X 660 MW supercritical coal based power project at Port Qasim.

Lucky Cement remains committed towards progressive development of society and the communities in which it operates. The Company extended its merit-based support to deserving and less privileged students in Pakistan and abroad. As an attempt to promote 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 serious responsibility towards the preservation of the environment and in an effort to highlight the importance of environment conservation; the Company continued with its pro-environment initiatives including tree-plantation drives in and around its manufacturing sites.

The Company reported that with the current economic challenges due to COVID-19 and post relaxation lockdown in the North, dispatches have reached 80% of pre-lockdown volumes. Dispatches in the South however continue to suffer due to lock down in the Sindh province. Export volumes are also very thin due to low demand from foreign buyers.

The Company expects that the prices in North will recover based on the demand projections and the fact that majority of players are presently operating in losses, while in South volumes will remain under pressure due to lower economic activity because of COVID-19 lock down. The Company also expects that once the pandemic situation eases, the package announced for the construction industry by the Federal Government will have a positive impact on the cement demand.