Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Jan 31, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Jan 31, 2002 |
|
|
|
|
|
Corporate Results
-
Cement Madras Cements net falls 89 pc Our Bureau
CHENNAI, Jan. 30 MADRAS Cements Ltd has recorded an 89-per cent fall in net profit and a four-per cent growth in net sales for the quarter ended December 31, 2001 over the corresponding quarter last year. For the quarter ended December 31, 2001, Madras Cements' net profit was Rs 1.22 crore on net sales of Rs 151.46 crore against a net profit of Rs 11.34 crore on sales of Rs 145.66 crore for the same period last year. The company attributed the fall in profit to the poor demand for cement in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, its main markets, and the pressure on prices because of the increased availability. While Madras Cements had commissioned its one million tonne per annum plant at Alathiyur, Chettinad Cements too had commissioned an almost identical capacity during the financial year, adding to the availability of cement. However, the Alathiyur plant was operating at only 60-65 per cent capacity, according to Mr A.V. Dharmakrishnan, Senior Vice-President (Finance), Madras Cements. He told Business Line that besides the additional capacity commissioned by Madras Cements and Chettinad Cements, other companies too had increased capacity by de-bottlenecking. Besides, cement companies in Andhra Pradesh too had increased capacity because of which there was an increased availability in Tamil Nadu. The average realisation had dropped to about Rs 1,500 per tonne, a decrease of about Rs 125 per tonne over the corresponding quarter last year. Two years ago, the average realisation was about Rs 2,000 per tonne. Mr Dharmakrishnan said that the demand for cement was flat in Tamil Nadu while in Kerala there had been a five per cent drop. For the nine-month period ended December 31, 2001, the net profit was Rs 32.83 crore on sales of Rs 546.04 crore compared to a net profit of Rs 42.08 crore on sales of Rs 446.89 crore. Madras Cements produced 6.46 lakh tonnes of cement for the October-December 2001 period compared to 5.55 lakh tonnes for the same period last year. It dispatched 6.68 lakh tonnes of cement during the third quarter of this year against 5.70 lakh tonnes for the corresponding period last year. For the nine-month period, the company produced 24.36 lakh tonnes of cement against 19.84 lakh tonnes for the same period last year, and dispatched 24.20 lakh tonnes compared to 19.83 lakh tonnes previously.
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | Home |
Copyright © 2002, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|