UAE's Rak Ceramics to sell Sudan business

UAE-based RAK Ceramics, one of the world's biggest makers of floor and wall tiles, said on Thursday it would sell its Sudan business and use the cash raised to expand its sanitary ware production capacity in the UAE.

The company has entered an initial agreement to sell all its shares in Rak Ceramics Sudanese Investment Co., and aims to complete the sale by March 31, it said without naming the buyer or revealing the sale price. It added that it had received an initial, non-refundable cash deposit from the buyers.

At the same time, Rak Ceramics has concluded agreements to raise its annual sanitary ware capacity in the UAE by 500,000 pieces, it said without giving further details.

In November, chief executive Abdallah Massaad told Reuters that the company was working to exit its non-core businesses.

It reported an 18.3 percent fall in third-quarter net profit to Dh57.4 million ($15.6 million) as it continued to book an accounting provision for hyper-inflation in Iran and Sudan and reduced its non-core business earnings.

The company's current production of sanitary ware at plants around the world exceeds 12,000 pieces per day, according to its website.

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