Lucky Cement plans 660MW coal power plant in Karachi The board of directors of Lucky Cement Limited plans to invest $200 million in setting up a 660MW coal-based power project in Karachi, an official said on Tuesday. The announcement came soon after the Nishat Group expressed intentions to setup two 660MW coal power projects in Punjab. Mohammad Faisal, chief investment officer of Lucky Cement Limited, said that the board of directors of Lucky Cement had resolved to recommend to its shareholders to invest in setting up a 660MW coal-based power project in Karachi through its subsidiary Lucky Holdings Limited (LHL) in which Lucky Cement holds 75 percent shares. The board also recommended that this will be considered for approval of the shareholders in the forthcoming annual general meeting of Lucky Cement, which is likely to be held in September. The board has recommended for the approval of the shareholders, an equity investment of approximately $200 million for the power project to be setup by a newly-formed entity by the name of Lucky Electric Power Company Limited (LEPCL), which will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of LHL and a 75 percent indirect subsidiary of Lucky Cement. The project will be setup with an estimated project cost of $1.08 billion and financed in the debt:equity ratio of 75:25. Lucky Cement will be the main sponsor of LEPCL, investing an amount of approximately $200 million (Rs20 billion) for the project and holding 75 percent equity stake of LEPCL through LHL. Lucky Cement has also consented to the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) to continue to hold at least 20 percent indirect stake in the project from the date of the letter of support (LoS) to the sixth anniversary of the commercial operations date of the project. Lucky Cement had already decided to increase the shareholding in Yunus Energy in 50MW wind farm from 14 percent to 20 percent, thereby, investment in the associated company will increase from Rs605 million to Rs835 million. The project is likely to be completed by December 2015. For the nine-month period ended March 31, Lucky Cement posted a net profit of Rs8.185 billion, translating into earnings per share (EPS) of Rs25.31. Lucky Cement Limited is Pakistan’s largest producer and leading exporter of quality cement with the production capacity of 7.75 million tons per annum. The company is listed at the Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and London stock exchanges. Over the years, the company has grown substantially and is expanding its business operations with the production facilities at strategic locations in Karachi to cater to the Southern regions, Pezu and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to furnish the Northern Areas of the country. Lucky Cement is Pakistan’s first company to export sizeable quantities of loose cement being the only cement manufacturer to have its own loading and storage terminal at the Karachi Port.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 05:46:00 +0000