Bamburi Cement's pretax profit slumped 28 percent to 2.3 billion shillings ($26.20 million) in the first half of 2014, the company said on Thursday, as it outlined plans to profit from Kenya's ambitious infrastructure spending plans. Controlled by French firm Lafarge SA, Bamburi is the biggest cement maker in east Africa's largest economy, where a construction boom driven by infrastructure projects and real estate has helped boost demand for cement. "We are optimistic that the business environment will progressively improve in the second half of the year," the company said in a statement, citing upcoming infrastructure projects in Kenya. Bamburi said it expects Kenya's planned infrastructure projects, including roads, railways and a new Indian Ocean port in Lamu, to improve sales.