Heidelberg Cement to build new plant for Tk 92.52cr

Heidelberg Cement is set to invest Tk 92.52 crore of its own funds on a new grinding mill, but the disclosure yesterday failed to stem the sliding share price as investors view the plan as a drag on the cash flow.

The cement manufacturer's shares closed yesterday at Tk 409, down 2.71 percent from the previous day.

The company had a dismal third quarter: its profit slumped 61.59 percent year-on-year to Tk 9.7 crore.

Heidelberg's share price has been on a descent since September 11, when each share traded at Tk 440.20.

The new grinding mill, which will be Heidelberg's third, will increase the production capacity by 4.72 lakh tonnes a year.

Its existing capacity is 10.75 lakh tonnes, according to its posting on the Dhaka Stock Exchange website.

Headquartered in Germany, Heidelberg Cement is one of the world's largest building materials companies.  The group has activities in about 60 countries with 60,000 employees working at 3,000 production sites.

In Bangladesh, it has made investment of $100 million, with more than 260 people working round-the-clock to meet 13 percent of the country's demand for cement from its two plants in Dhaka and Chittagong.