(Hong Kong, 11 March 2018) China Resources Cement Holdings Limited ("China Resources Cement" or the "Company", Stock Code: 1313, and together with its subsidiaries, the "Group"), the largest cement, clinker and concrete producer in Southern China, announced its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2017.
During the year, the Company's consolidated turnover amounted to HK$29,958.4 million, representing an increase of 16.8% over last year. Profit attributable to owners of the Company amounted to HK$3,616.7 million, representing an increase of 172.8% over last year. Basic earnings per share reached HK$0.554. The Board recommends the payment of a final dividend of HK$0.155 per share for the year ended 31 December 2017. Along with the interim dividend of HK$0.115 per share, the annual dividend was HK$0.27 per share (2016: HK$0.09 per share), representing a dividend payout ratio of 48.8%. As at 31 December 2017, the total assets of the Group was HK$56,526.6 million, the net gearing ratio was 38.6% and the net assets per share was HK$4.64.
In 2017, our external sales volume of cement, clinker and concrete reached 75.9 million tons, 7.9 million tons, and 13.5 million m3, representing a decrease of 5.2%, an increase of 63.6% and an increase of 8.6% respectively over last year. During the year, the Group's utilization rates of cement, clinker and concrete production lines were 96.3%, 111.5% and 37.2% respectively. The average selling price of cement and clinker increased by 19.3% toHK$297.0 per ton while the average selling price of concrete increased by 2.7% to HK$375.8 per m3. The consolidated gross margin 30.8%, which was 3.4 percentage points higher than 27.4% of last year. The net margin was 12.0%, which was 7.1 percentage points higher than 4.9% of last year.
