Announcement of IFC Supports Lebanon's Construction Sector One Million Twenty Thousand US Dollars Loan to Ceramic Firm on June 29, 1971

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION 1818 H STREET. N.W.. WASHINGTON D. C. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 IFC Press Release No. 71/14 June 29, 1971 IFC Supports Lebanon's Construction Sector $1.2 Million Loan to Ceramic Firm Lebanon's only manufacturer of ceramic wall tiles and sanitary ware is modernizing and expanding its plant with the help of the International Finance Corporation and of its own shareholders. IFC is making a $1.2 million loan to Lebanese Ceramic Industries Co., S.A.L., located at Kafarchima on the outskirts of Beirut. The loan will help to finance a $2.2 million project that will improve the company's production processes and double its capacity from apProximately 6-1/2 mil- lion to 13 million square feet of wall tiles. At full production, by 1974, it is estimated that the increase in the company's production of wall tiles from the project will have a value of $1 million per year at international prices. Since this additional output will either substitute for imports or be exported, the project is expected to generate net foreign exchange savings and earnings of about $700,000 a year. The company's products are of good quality, and its present production costs are in line with other efficient competitors. The project receiving IFC's support is expected to decrease production costs, thus enhancing the company's competitive position. It will also improve its prospects for obtaining a greater share of the Lebanese market - presently at 65% for wall tiles and 43% for ceramic sanitary ware - and for increasing its exports to nearby Arab countries. The IFC loan is the Corporation's second investment in a Lebanese firm in less than a month. IFC in May made a loan of $930,000 to Filitex S.A.L., a new $2.4 million cotton spinning mill. Financial Details IFC's loan of $1.2 million is being supplemented by an increase of $308,000 in the company's share capital, subscribed by existing shareholders, and by the company's own cash generation, amounting to $708,000. -O -