High sales net cement firm Sh4bn in profit
What you need to know:
- Bamburi projects a better performance this year, based on lower power charges, a drop in lending rates and stable exchange rates.
- The firm said turnover increased by 6 per cent to Sh36 billion in the period under review, up from Sh34 billion, with management citing improved market conditions.
Cement maker Bamburi’s full-year net profit for last year has rebounded, having dropped by a quarter in 2013, with management attributing the resurgence to growth in both local and export markets.
The Nairobi bourse-listed firm yesterday posted Sh3.9 billion profit after tax for the year ended December 2014, up from Sh3.7 billion recorded last year.
In 2012 the earnings stood at Sh4.8 billion.
The firm said turnover increased by 6 per cent to Sh36 billion in the period under review, up from Sh34 billion, with management citing improved market conditions.
“In addition to improving market conditions in Uganda, we experienced growth in the Kenyan market, in particular in the infrastructure segment in the latter part of the year with key projects getting off the ground,” Group Managing Director Bruno Pescheux said in a statement.
LOWER POWER COSTS
Mr Pescheux attributed the growth to lower power costs in both Kenya and Uganda in the last quarter of the year.
He said the company successfully launched its petcoke fuel conversion at Kasese plant in Uganda, which started providing energy cost benefits towards the end of 2014.
Bamburi projects a better performance this year, based on lower power charges, a drop in lending rates and stable exchange rates.
It exports cement to regional markets including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Shareholders of the firm are set to pocket Sh4.4 billion as dividends in the period, or Sh12 per share up from Sh3.8 billion paid out in 2013, which was Sh11 apiece.
