Pakistan's Lucky Cement Revives Overseas Share Sale: Bloomberg

By Farhan Sharif
April 24 (Bloomberg) --

Lucky Cement Ltd., Pakistan's biggest maker of the building material, plans to raise $150 million selling shares overseas for the first time after delaying the offering by six months because of political turmoil.
The offer of global depository receipts will run from April 27 to May 7 before listing on the London Stock Exchange, Muhammad Abid Ganatra, Lucky's company secretary, said by telephone from his Karachi head office.
Construction of offices, homes and infrastructure in the Middle East, India and Afghanistan is driving demand for cement from Pakistan, which sells the cheapest building material in the region. Cement sales, including exports, rose 39 percent in March to a record 3.18 million metric tons, according to industry data.
``The issue will obviously get a positive response from investors,'' said Bilal Hameed, research analyst at JS Global Capital Ltd. in Karachi. ``The company is a leader in production, sales and also plans further expansion.''
A successful offering may help the government revive share sales in National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank Ltd and Kot Addu Power Co. The offers were delayed after President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule for six weeks in November.
Lucky Cement, which has climbed 22 percent this year, rose 0.4 percent to 142 rupees at the 2:15 p.m. local time close on the Karachi Stock Exchange.
``We had planed the sale for after September or October last year, but we delayed it due to political instability at that time,'' Ganatra said. ``Now things have changed and we see a tremendous response.''
Delayed Sales
Pakistan's cement exports more than doubled to 5.2 million metric tons in the nine months ended March 31, compared with 2.14 million metric tons a year earlier, according to the Lahore-based All-Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association.
The funds raised in the overseas share sale will be used to increase production capacity by 2.5 million tons, Lucky Cement said in a statement in July. Output will rise to 9 million tons in three years from 6.55 million tons.
Lucky Cement posted a 20 percent increase in third-quarter profit on April 21, because of higher overseas sales. Net income rose to 665.3 million rupees ($10.4 million) in the three months ended March 31, from 553.7 million rupees a year ago.
The company has the capacity to produce 6.5 million tons of cement a year, according to JS Global. D.G. Khan Cement, the second-biggest cement maker has the capacity to produce 4.2 million tons a year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Farhan Sharif in Karachi, Pakistan at fsharif2@bloomberg.net. Last Updated: April 24, 2008 06:55 EDT

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