Kenya’s ARM Cement posted a pretax profit of 2.02 billion shillings ($22 million) for 2014, inching up % from the previous year, it said on Wednesday.
The cement maker, which also has operations in Tanzania, said its revenue for the period edged down 3% to 13.74 billion shillings, mainly because there was no additional capacity expansion during the period.
In a statement, the firm predicted that this year would be better, with growth in turnover and profit.
“The cement markets continue to grow at double digits with significant demand from the infrastructure segment,” it said.
Booming economies in the east Africa region have buoyed demand for cement in recent years but local firms are preparing for increased competition from new entrants like Nigeria’s Dangote Cement, which is investing in Kenya.
ARM Cement said its earnings per share rose to 3.01 shillings from 2.74 shillings in the previous year, largely helped by a lower tax bill.
The company maintained its dividend for the year at 0.60 shillings per share.
