Dennise Williams, Staff Reporter
ROLLIN
CARIBBEAN CEMENT Company Limited is in a bind being shared by its more than 24,000 shareholders.
It faces over 200 claims for losses incurred as a result of the sub-standard product it released on the market last month.
Output from the factory was interrupted last week while processes were improved, resulting in further havoc in the construction sector fol-lowing the release of the faulty product.
Critically, the company has lost its special tariff protection for a one year period and competitors have gained access to the market.
DEMAND UP
Veteran broker Phillip Harvey Lewis of Paul Chen Young and Company says, "On the positive side, cement demand has risen substantially. If they can get their act together, they have a product that every Tom, Dick and Harry buys."
Mr. Harvey Lewis said his major concern is just, "what stops them from making the mistake again?"
Fears about claims of a billion dollars against the company were denied by Dr. Rollin Bertrand, group chief executive officer of Caribbean Cement. And besides, the company has a level of insurance coverage to deal with the problem. "We do have claims liability insurance, but I am not going to say how much," Dr. Bertrand said.
A broker at a recently-listed stockbrokerage firm who chose anonymity said, "The stock price went up 55 cents in Monday's trading, so investors are looking at CCC favourably. The company is benefiting from low-cost sources like Arawak Cement in Barbados. Now, compare that to shipments that are coming in from as far as Russia."
FINANCIAL WOES
But the recent problems follow on earlier difficulties. Unaudited results for the nine months ended September 30, 2005 show that net profit after tax amounted to $243.3 million, compared to $373.3 million reported for the same period in 2004, with bad weather interrupting its operations as demand increased.
