LAFARGE'S Malayan Cement Bhd's pre-tax profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2010 fell to RM102.142 million from RM126.472 million in the corresponding quarter in 2009.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Lafarge said the weaker performance was due to lower export contribution, higher fuel costs and losses from its operations in ready-mixed concrete and in Singapore.

The lower pre-tax profit is also due to lower kiln performance in one of our plants which resulted in lower production, lower export volume and higher production costs, it said.

Its revenue fell eight per cent to RM568.091 million from RM618.319 million in the corresponding quarter in the previous financial year.

This was mainly due to lower export volume and prices coupled with weaker US dollar and lower sales in Singapore mitigated by slightly higher domestic selling price, it said.

In the nine-month period ended Sept 30, 2010, its pre-tax profit fell to RM250.603 million from RM317.931 million in the corresponding period in the previous year.

Its revenue fell RM1.708 billion from RM1.859 billion.

Lafarge said taking into consideration the year-to-date results and the current market condition, the group's financial results for the remaining quarter of the year were not expected to improve significantly. -- BERNAMA