Bamburi Cement’s pretax profit slumped 28% to 2.3 billion shillings ($26.20 million) in the first half of 2014, the company said on Thursday, as it outlined plans to profit from Kenya’s ambitious infrastructure spending plans.
Controlled by French firm Lafarge SA, Bamburi is the biggest cement maker in east Africa’s largest economy.
“We are optimistic that the business environment will progressively improve in the second half of the year,” the company said in a statement, citing upcoming infrastructure projects in Kenya, including roads, railways and a new Indian Ocean port in Lamu.
In June, Kenya’s government raised $2 billion through a debut Eurobond and said most of the proceeds would be used to finance infrastructure projects.
Bamburi said profit in the six months to end-June took a hit due to the higher cost of power and imported clinker.
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