Caribbean Cement Company Ltd (CCC) posted net profit of $220.56 million for the second quarter ended June 2016, compared to $621.34 million realised in the similar period for 2015.

The significant change, directors said, was connected to stockholding and inventory restructuring costs resulting in an expense of $402.4 million.

Year to date, however, for the six months of the cement makers financial year, profit rode ahead of the similar period in 2015.

The group reported consolidated profit before tax of $1.27 billion for the first six months of 2016 compared to a profit before tax of $996 million in the corresponding period of 2015 — an improvement of $291 million.

Net profit for the period was $1.05 billion compared to $869.3 million for the similar period last year.

Chairman Chris Dehring said in comments attached to the six-month results that the group undertook “a comprehensive review of its inventory of spares and consumables and has determined the optimal stockholding and reorder levels”.

He noted that management has written down overstocked inventory items to their net realisable value.

The improvement over six months, the chairman said, was mainly due to increased revenue and reduction in costs “but was tempered by stockholding and inventory restructuring costs”.

Revenue rose to $777 billion, despite a reduction in export cement and clinker volumes by eight per cent and 77 per cent respectively.

The improvement in revenue came from an increase in domestic cement volumes, the company reported, by 27 per cent arising from increased projects and strong retail demand.

Additionally, Dehring noted in his comments attached to the period’s financials, “improvements in operational efficiencies, effective control of fixed costs, lower financing costs and lower energy costs, contributed to the improvement in adjusted EBITDA (Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment and restructuring costs)” by $1.22 billion.

The chairman said that in the second quarter, there was significant improvement in CCC’s liquidity position which allowed for the repayment of long-term debt and inter-company balances.

— Avia Collinder