This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 19, 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR: Lafarge Malaysia Bhd, the country’s largest cement manufacturer, recorded a 28.9% increase in net profit to RM70.65 million or 8.3 sen a share for its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2015 (3QFY15) from RM54.81 million or 6.5 sen a share a year ago, mainly due to higher sales revenue from the cement segment, improved plant performance, and higher foreign exchange (forex) gains.

Revenue for 3QFY15 rose slightly to RM670.88 million from RM664.63 million in 3QFY14, thanks to higher revenue from its cement segment which offset the lower revenue from its concrete and aggregate segments.

The group also declared a third interim dividend of 8 sen per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2015 (FY15), payable on Jan 13, 2016. This brings the total dividend payment for the year to 24 sen per share. For the cumulative nine months (9MFY15), Lafarge Malaysia posted a slight increase in net profit to RM207.66 million or 24.4 sen a share from RM206.06 million or 24.3 sen a share in 9MFY14. This is despite revenue falling by a marginal 1.3% to RM2.03 billion from RM2.06 billion.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Lafarge Malaysia attributed the better net profit to improved plant performance and higher forex gains. Lafarge Malaysia said the outlook for the construction sector remains positive in 2015.