Maple Leaf Cement (MLCF) announced FY14 earnings of Rs 2.8 billion (EPS Rs 5.36) in FY14 against Rs 3.2 billion (EPS Rs 6.11) in FY13, down 12 percent. According to Topline Securities, in FY14, MLCF recorded revenue of Rs 18.9 billion as against Rs 17.4 billion last year which is up 9 percent mainly because of increase in net retention prices by approximately 11 percent.
However, gross profits increased by 8 percent to Rs 6.5 billion while gross margins declined by 1pps to 34 percent. Finance cost on the other hand witnessed a decline of 14 percent in FY14, as MLCF is aggressively paying down its Sukuk and syndicated debt obligations.
The MLCF restructured its Rs 12 billion debt back in 2010, which has now come down to Rs 8 billion. Although profit before tax in FY14 improved by 14 percent to Rs 3.6 billion, imposition of alternate corporate tax (17 percent of accounting profit) resulted in 12 percent decline in net earnings, the report said.
In 4QFY14 alone, the company reported EPS of Rs 0.79, which declined by 59 percent versus Rs 1.95 in 4QFY13 mainly due to higher effective tax rate. However, on pretax level, MLCF's profits improved by 11 percent versus corresponding period last year. On quarterly basis, profitability in 4QFY14 declined by 55 percent to Rs 0.4 billion compared to Rs 1.7 billion (EPS Rs 1.76) in 3QFY14, it said.