Lucky Cement 1H profit up 38pc

KARACHI: Lucky Cement net profit increased 38 percent to Rs17.154 billion during the half-year ended December 31, 2021, translating into earnings per share (EPS) of Rs40.66, a bourse filing said on Friday.

It earned Rs12.444 billion profit with EPS of Rs32.05 during the same half ended December 31, 2020. The company did not announce any cash dividend.

During the second quarter, Lucky reported a 13.4 percent rise in its net profit, as a result of an increase in its net revenue.

In a consolidated earnings statement to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, the company reported a net profit of Rs8.29 billion for the quarter ended December 31, up from Rs7.31 billion the previous year.

Earnings per share came in at Rs20.09, compared with Rs18.60 during the same period last year.

The company said its revenue for the quarter rose to Rs85.23 billion, compared with Rs65.86 billion a year earlier.

A report of KASB Research said the Lucky Cement earnings came relatively in line with industry estimates.

“Its core cement business, however, came under pressure in Q2 (-24 percent QoQ) because of inflationary concerns resulting from elevated energy prices, particularly coal. As such, the company’s growth during the period was largely credited to the performance of its investments,” said the report.