AMMAN: Lafarge Cement Jordan, the country’s leading cement producer, posted a 73 percent fall in first-half net profit to 9.4 million dinars ($13.3 mln) on Tuesday, on weaker domestic sales.
Sales fell 38 percent to 95.8 million dinars from the previous year, hit by weaker domestic consumption as the country reels from the impact of the global downturn.
The firm’s bottom line has also been hurt by a flood of cheap clinker imports using subsidised fuel from Saudi Arabia that gave an advantage to its local competitors, a company source said.
The firm, which until last year was the country’s sole producer, is managed by France’s Lafarge, the world’s largest cement producer, which is by far the biggest shareholder with a 50 percent stake.
The company said total assets fell 18 percent to 241.8 million dinars on June 30 2010 against 296 million dinars at end of December.
