Athi River Mining (ARM.NR), Kenya's third-largest cement company, said the market remained buoyant when reporting a 12.6 percent rise in nine-month pretax profit.
"Going forward, the company expects margins to improve in the cement business with the increase in capacity," ARM said on Friday.
January-September pretax profit rose to 762 million shillings ($9.5 million), helped by 16 percent higher revenue.
Earnings per share rose 15 percent to 6.98 shillings.
Strong growth in construction -- 18 percent in the second quarter -- has been underpinning a recovery in east Africa's biggest economy where growth was seen around 6 percent in 2011, compared with a projected 5 percent this year. [ID:nLDE69K1U2]
ARM shares were untraded by 0900 GMT, having closed at 171 shillings on Thursday to be up 54 percent this year.
In October, managing director Pradeep Paunrana told Reuters the company planed to spin off its fertilizer business to focus on increasing cement sales fivefold over the next five years. [ID:nLDE6990HB]
It said borrowing increased in line with investment in a new clinker plant and cement grinding plant in Tanzania, as well as expansion projects in Kenya.
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