Cemena holding company a creation of gulf finance house diversifies its business

CEMENA Holding Company, a Bahrain-based building materials company focusing on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) established in 2008 by Gulf Finance House (GFH) which remains a major shareholder in the company, held its Annual General Meeting recently. The AGM focused on CEMENA’s profitability, returns and plans to diversify its business into becoming one of the leading building materials companies in the region, as part of its new strategy.

At the AGM, shareholders were updated on CEMENA’s activities and financial performance during 2011 in relation to the adverse market conditions. Additionally, shareholders were updated on the milestones achieved by the company, and the new business strategy adopted by the management to achieve profits by the end of 2011, a strategy that ultimately succeeded with gross revenues reaching US$46.4 million for the year ended 31 December 2011. 

Shareholders were also updated on the planned expansion of Falcon Cement Company’s (FCC) production capacity, bringing it up to 3,500 tons in the near future. FCC is Bahrain’s first integrated cement plant, established by Cemena in 2007. The expansion of FCC will help the company meet Bahrain’s growing demand for cement, specifically with the increasing number of infrastructure projects in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

In addition, the shareholders were updated on the progress made on the expansion phase of Bahrain Aluminum Extrusion Company Balexco in which Cemena has a controling stake. The project is expected to be completed and operations to commence later this year.   

Commenting on the positive strides the company made in 2011, Hisham Alrayes, Chairman of CEMENA said: “With the return of the growing demand for cement and building materials locally and in the region, Cemena successfully closed 2011 in profit.  This is a result of the tireless efforts of the team, and the trust and confidence our shareholders have in our vision. 

With the expansion plans in place for FCC, the completion of the expansion phase of Balexco and with the situation in Libya stabilizing allowing us to progress with our Libya Cement Plant, we are confident that we now have a strong platform for growth and expect to witness another strong cash flow performance this year. Cemena is well positioned to support future growth objectives, both organically and through additional acquisitions and expansions.”

“2011 was a difficult but consistent year for us,” said Salah Sharif, CEO of Cemena. “Our positive results defied the cement industry’s negative trend in 2011, and were due to our team’s dedication and hard work, as well as our shareholders’ continuous guidance and support.  The expanded capacities at FCC and the completion of the Balexco project will enable us to better meet the rising demand for building materials in Bahrain, while further diversifying our business activities into the building materials segment of the market, will help us strengthen our position as a market leader in the region.”

“With the support of all our stakeholders, we look forward to continuing our successful strategy of targeted investments, aimed at expanding building material capacities in the growth markets in particular Libya after the recent reforms building on our previous presence and the cement project that we started in 2009. I am confident that we have the best tools and people in place to do exactly that,” continued Mr. Sharif.

Cemena was established by Gulf Finance House, the Bahrain-based Islamic Investment bank, in partnership with a number of leading GCC financial institutions and high net worth individuals, with the objective of becoming one of the leading building material holding companies in the MENA region.