Market Watch: Ashaka Cement, 7up Bottling, Julius Berger half-year profit fall

Nigeria’s Ashaka Cement , a unit of the world largest cement firm Lafarge, reported a 5 percent fall in half year pretax profit to ₦4.17 billion ($21 million) compared with the same period a year ago.

Revenue also dropped to ₦10.74 billion ($54 million) in the period to end-June from ₦12.32 billion a year ago, the company said in a statement on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE)

The company’s gross income fell to ₦4.35 billion against ₦5.16 billion last year.

Also, beverage maker, 7up Bottling company, also reported a 9.6 percent drop in first quarter pretax profit to ₦2.44 billion ($12 million) versus the same period a year earlier.

Gross earnings for the period from April to June however rose to ₦23.14 billion against ₦21.03 billion in the previous year, the company said in a statement, adding that cost of sales rose to ₦15.39 billion from ₦13.40 billion.

Construction firm Julius Berger Nigeria’s first-half pretax profit fell 15 percent to ₦3.76 billion ($19 million) versus a year ago, the firm said on Thursday.

Gross earnings also fell to ₦77.83 billion compared with ₦80.99 billion, the company said in a statement, without giving reason for the decreased in earnings.

Reuters