Lucky Cement Limited recorded its highest ever profit after tax of Rs 11.344 billion for the year ending June 30, which is 16.4 percent higher than last year's net profit of Rs 9.748 billion. The cement giant announced a cash dividend of Rs 9 per share as its earnings per share (EPS) climbed to Rs 35.08 per share versus Rs 30.15 per share achieved last year.
Lucky Cement's gross profit increased by 11.5 percent during the year to Rs 18.69 billion as compared to Rs 16.756 billion reported last year. Higher sales volume was attributed as the major driver towards the phenomenal profit declared. The local sales volume during the year under review registered a growth of 9.6 percent that rose to 4.132 million tons as compared to 3.77 million tons last year. The export sales volume of Lucky Cement also registered a growth of 8.6 percent from 2.289 million tons last year to 2.487 million tons during the financial year ending June 30.
Lucky Cement announced various projects over the year for further enhancement of its product quality and further penetration in the international markets. These include the completion of the European origin vertical grinding mills for its Karachi plant which are expected to become operational by the end of 2014. The 5MW WHR (waste heat recovery) Plants at Karachi and Pezu captive power plants will become operational by end of calendar year 2014 and 2015 respectively.
Lucky Cement's international ventures also progressed during the year 2014. The joint venture project of a cement grinding facility in Iraq has started its commercial operations early this year. Lucky Cement also reported that its joint venture investment in a Cement plant in DR Congo will be finalised and commissioned by June 2016. Sustaining its legacy of continuous growth and diversification, Lucky Cement also announced that the company intends to put up a 660MW Coal Based Power Plant in Karachi with the name of "Lucky Electric Power Company Limited", through its subsidiary Lucky Holdings Limited. The company will put an equity investment pf Rs 20 billion in this project with a 75:25 ratio of debt to equity.
The company is on the forefront of corporate social responsibility in Pakistan and as a part of its CSR, there were numerous projects executed during the year ending 30 June 2014 support to educational institutions, support to leading hospital and health care centers, as well as grassroots community development through provisioning of green energy in rural districts in the country. Furthermore, Lucky Cement has also started earning carbon credits on its pro-environment projects at Karachi and Pezu. These Carbon Emission Reduction (CER) Credits are generated by projects which qualify under the clean development mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol.-PR
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