Friday, August 17, 2012

CHINA: Cement giant Conch sees H1 profits down 51%



China's biggest cement producer by output - Anhui Conch Cement Co Ltd -announced Wednesday its net profit plunged nearly 51 percent year-on-year in the first sixmonths of 2012.

The sharp decline is a result of slower housing development and other fixed-asset investmenthobbling amid the economic slowdown.

Conch's net profit slumped to 2.93 billion yuan ($462 million), down 50.96 percent from a yearearlier, the company said in a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Operating revenue dropped 7.92 percent to 20.56 billion yuan, while earnings per share stoodat 0.55 yuan in the first half of 2012, according to the internal financial reporting standards.

The sharp decline in net profit was mainly due to a macroeconomic downturn and shrinkingdemand for cement in the first half, the company said.

In the first six months of the year, China's economy expanded 7.8 percent year-on-year, down1.8 percentage points from a year earlier, the slowest pace in almost three years, according tothe National Bureau of Statistics.

During the period, the country's fixed-asset investment rose 20.4 percent year-on-year to15.07 trillion yuan, slowing by 5.2 percentage points, while investment in the nation's propertysector increased 16.6 percent to 3.06 trillion yuan, down 16.3 percentage points from a yearearlier, according to the NBS.

Data from the Digital Cement website showed China's cement output added just 5.48 percentyear-on-year to reach 994 million tonnes in the first half of the year, down 14.12 percentagepoints from a year earlier.

Investment in the entire cement sector fell 5.42 percent to 61.9 billion yuan in the period.

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