Attock Cement plans $120mln investment

KARACHI: Attock Cement Limited has planned an estimated capital outlay of $120 million to install a new plant having a clinker production capacity of 3,300 million tons/day, said a securities analyst.
Sajjad Hussain at BMA Capital said currently the company has a cash and short-term investment reserves of Rs3.8 billion.
“However, the mode of financing is yet to be decided,” Hussain said.
“Given an average growth of 7.0 percent in the southern local dispatches, the company’s decision to expand will favor the earnings outlook moving forward by debottlenecking its capacity limitations.”
The company is finally going forward with the much needed expansion as it has been operating at more than 100 percent capacity utilisation for the past six years.
The new production line, along with other projects under pipeline, including a cement grinding unit in Basra and 40-megawatt coal fired power plant, will likely add value to the existing attractive valuations of the company.