LafargeHolcim sales, profit soar as new products grip market

LafargeHolcim Bangladesh Limited (LHBL), a publicly-traded multinational cement maker, posted a 21 per cent growth in net profit in the third quarter (July-September) of the year 2022, thanks to the lofty sales of its newly introduced products.

In Q3 of 2022, the company posted a net profit of Tk 113.5 crore versus the figure of Tk 93.7 crore in the same period of 2021.

In the July-September period, the cement maker’s net sales also jumped by 24 per cent to Tk 571 crore compared to Tk 460 crore in the third quarter of 2021, said a company statement revealed on Thursday.

Rajesh Surana, chief executive officer of LHBL said, “A mighty topline growth has led us to ensure an increased profit in the Q3 this year.”

“Our new products and business channels gained a strong footprint in the market, while the innovation in digital operations strongly contributed to our topline growth.”

“The sustainable waste disposal system, which we introduced to become carbon neutral by 2050, is also adding resilience to our energy costs,” said Rajesh Surana.

“In the latest quarter, we faced an unprecedented increase in raw material costs but part of it was mitigated due to the soaring growth in sales,” he commented.

The company’s new products — Holcim Water Protect and Holcim Shokti — contributed as much as 5 per cent to the total Holcim brand volume in a very short period after their opening.

LafargeHolcim also received surprising repeat orders for these two newly introduced products from the customer ends, the company statement read.

Its earnings per share (EPS) rose by 21 per cent to Tk 0.98 in Q3 this year compared to Tk 0.81 in Q3 of 2021.

“We also have managed to improve our earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) margin by 400 basis points in the quarter through our innovative approaches in business. Our journey for cost leadership remained as a focal point during the quarter and had a very positive impact on the overall result,” said the chief executive officer of LHBL.

LafargeHolcim Bangladesh declared a 15 per cent interim cash dividend as their earnings soared for the first half (January-June) this year.

In the April-June quarter this year, the company reported revenue of Tk 501 crore and a net profit of Tk 123 crore, which were 6 per cent and 10 per cent higher respectively on a year-on-year basis.

Its net sales in the second quarter surged by 6 per cent to Tk 501 crore compared to Tk 473 crore in Q2, 2021.

The board of directors of LafargeHolcim Bangladesh Limited declared an interim cash dividend of 15 per cent at Tk 1.5 per equity share of Tk 10 face value aggregating to Tk 174 crore for the half year ended in June 2022.

LafargeHolcim share was traded at Tk 71.8 per share on the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Thursday.

With a market capitalisation of Tk 8,338 crore, the company has a paid-up capital base of Tk 1,161 crore and a surplus reserve of Tk 818 crore.

The company had registered a 27 per cent growth in net sales to Tk 2,053 crore in 2021 from Tk 1,622 crore in the previous year.

Riding on the healthy business growth, the multinational cement producer paid a 25 per cent cash dividend to its shareholders for the year 2021.