KARACHI: Pakistan’s listed cement companies posted combined earnings of Rs43.1 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2027, up 19% from a year earlier and 11% from the previous quarter, according to Topline Research.
Net sales for the sector rose 18% year-on-year and 14% quarter-on-quarter to Rs219.8 billion. Topline attributed the annual profit increase to higher domestic dispatches and higher retail prices.
Domestic dispatches climbed 8% from a year earlier to 10.85 million tons, while exports fell 11% to 2.2 million tons.
Average bag prices in the North rose 10.1% to Rs1,544 from Rs1,402 a year earlier. In the South, prices increased 7% to Rs1,546 from Rs1,445.
Capacity utilization for the sector rose to 62.16% from 58.10% a year earlier, mainly because of stronger domestic demand. Domestic utilization increased to 51.30% from 47.60%.
Gross margins improved to 31.26% from 29.46% a year earlier but slipped from 32.16% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026. Higher cement prices and lower coal inventory costs supported the annual improvement. Richards Bay coal prices were up 26% from a year earlier but roughly flat from the previous quarter, at $113.93 per ton.
Other income rose 14% year-on-year and 45% quarter-on-quarter to about Rs15.3 billion, driven largely by higher dividend income at Lucky Cement.
Finance costs increased 42% from a year earlier and 4% from the prior quarter to Rs6.6 billion. Topline said the annual rise reflected higher finance costs at Maple Leaf Cement Factory, which took on a Rs76 billion loan for its acquisition of PIOC.
The sector’s effective tax rate was 31.7%, compared with 32.5% a year earlier and 25.1% in the previous quarter.
Topline’s analysis excludes Thatta Cement, which has not yet announced its results. Among the companies that have reported, only Bestway Cement announced a dividend, of Rs10 per share.
Lucky Cement, Bestway Cement and Fauji Cement together accounted for 66% of sector earnings, up from 59% in the previous quarter and 64% a year earlier.
Lucky Cement was the largest contributor at 40%. Its unconsolidated earnings rose 17% from a year earlier and 73% from the previous quarter to Rs17.1 billion, with the quarterly jump driven by higher other income, including dividends from subsidiaries. Other income at the company reached Rs10.7 billion, compared with Rs9 billion a year earlier and Rs4.9 billion in the previous quarter.
Bestway, which contributed 16% of sector earnings, reported a 24% annual increase in profit to Rs6.8 billion, though earnings fell 13% from the previous quarter. Topline cited higher gross profit and an 11% drop in finance costs. Its gross margin rose to 31% from 28% a year earlier but fell from 35% in the prior quarter.
Fauji Cement, at 10% of the sector total, saw earnings rise 36% from a year earlier to Rs4.5 billion and fall 14% from the previous quarter. The quarterly decline was mainly due to a lower effective tax rate of 24% in the prior quarter.
Kohat Cement contributed 8%, with profit up 13% year-on-year and 1% quarter-on-quarter to Rs3.3 billion. It reported the sector’s highest gross margin, at 41.8%.
Maple Leaf Cement posted unconsolidated earnings of Rs2.1 billion, down 18% from a year earlier and 10% from the previous quarter, accounting for 5% of the sector total.
PIOC’s earnings rose 73% from a year earlier to Rs2.2 billion, helped by a 93% drop in finance costs. Gharibwal Cement’s earnings fell 97% to Rs9 million.
