EnGro Corporation, one of Asia’s largest producers of eco-friendly specialty cement or Ground Granulated Blastfurnace Slag (GGBS), said for the 3 months ended March 31, 2009 (1Q09), revenue dipped slightly 2.6% to $28.2 million in 1Q09.

The group managed to maintain the growth momentum of its Singapore operations, comprising cement and ready-mixed concrete (RMC), despite the difficult operating environment experienced in 1Q09. This was able to partly offset the lower sales contribution from the specialty polymer business.

A combination of higher material costs in the group’s Singapore cement operations and lower specialty polymer sales, culminated in a $0.8 million decline in gross profit to $5.6 million. This was cushioned by higher contributions from the RMC business in Singapore and building materials business in China, which continued to benefit from government measures to stimulate the construction sector.

Bolstered by an improved contribution from its property development joint venture, the group’s share of profit from associates in 1Q09 more than doubled to $1.2 million. Due to the seasonally weaker first quarter, contributions from the group’s GGBS joint ventures remained on par with 1Q08.

Overall, the group was able to turn the net loss of $1.5 million of 4Q08 into a net profit of $0.92 million in 1Q09.

The group’s cash and cash equivalents stood at $25.4 million as at March 31, 2009, with a net cash of $12.1 million.