Mubasher: The losses of Gulf Cement Co., listed on Boursa Kuwait and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), amounted to KWD 2.21 million by 2019 year-end when compared to KWD 2.70 million in 2018, down by 18%.
Loss per share fell to 0.0025 fils last year from 0.0033 fils in 2018, according to a bourse statement on Thursday.
In the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2019, net losses narrowed by 33% to KWD 1.89 million as compared to KWD 2.83 million in the corresponding quarter in 2018.
The cement firm attributed the losses of the period to the major challenges facing the cement industry, excess supply over demand, declining markets, and increasing shipping costs. This caused revenues to shrink to KWD 443 million last year from KWD 475 million in 2018.
Yet, the firm could maintain its operational stability, with output hitting 3.1 million tonnes by 2019 year-end, as compared to 2.8 million a year earlier.
It is noteworthy that over the nine months period ended 30 September 2019, the company turned to a loss of AED 3.856 million, against a profit of AED 1.604 million in the prior-year period.
