* Diluted headline EPS at 163.3 vs 215.6
* Sales flat at 6.8 bln rand
* Pursuing four opportunities across Africa (Adds details, shares)
JOHANNESBURG, NOV 8 – Africa’s third biggest cement maker by value Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) reported a 24 percent fall in full-year profit, underscoring a bleak outlook for the industry in its core South African market
PPC, which also makes lime and aggregates, said on Tuesday diluted headline earnings per share totalled 163.8 cents in the year to September compared with 215.6 cents a year earlier.
Sales were flat at 6.8 billion rand ($854.4 million), highlighting slack demand.
South African cement sales are up 2.1 percent for first nine months of the year, Cement & Concrete Institute’s data shows, as the industry struggles to recover after a building boom in the run up to the 2010 soccer World Cup.
PPC, which competes with larger Nigeria’s Dangote Cement and Morocco’s on the continent, has been looking for new revenue streams across Africa to offset sluggish demand at home.
The company is one of the two final bidders to buy a 58 percent stake in Democratic Republic of Congo’s state-owned cement producer, Cimenterie Nationale (CINAT) . It has bid $44 million for the stake.
PPC also said it was pursuing a further three opportunities across the poor but fast-growing continent.
Shares in the company are down more than 30 percent so far this year, lagging a flat JSE All-share index and 14 percent decline in Dangote Cement. ($1 = 7.959 South African Rand) (Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng, Editing by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura)
