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Madras Cements' net profit during the second quarter of the current year has more than tripled to Rs 110.88 crore on net sales of Rs 818.99 crore as compared with that of the corresponding quarter last year.
During the corresponding quarter last year, ending September 30, 2010, the net profit was Rs 31.12 crore on net sales of Rs 642.06 crore.
Low base
The growth in net profit in the current year for the quarter ended September 30, 2011, seems steep when seen against the comparable quarter previously because of the unprecedented poor market conditions in terms of demand and pricing prevailing then, says Mr A.V. Dharmakrishnan, Executive Director – Finance, Madras Cements Ltd.
The company has partially made up for lost ground, and its performance should be seen in the light of earlier performances when in second quarter of 2008-09, it had reported a net profit of Rs 172 crore or in the second quarter of 2009-10 when the company reported a net profit of Rs 256 crore.
Sales stable
As of now cement demand and pricing are stable, he said.
Cement sales during the second quarter was 19 lakh tonnes against 20 lakh tonnes in the second quarter of 2009-10 and 16.73 lakh tonnes during that of 2008-09.
Annual production capacity has grown to 14 million tonnes with the addition of 2 million tonnes with a second line in the Ariyalur unit during the quarter.
Captive power
The company, which has five factories across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, is taking steps to secure the power situation with captive thermal generation.
At the Ariyalur plant the company has commissioned 40 MW of power generation, and an additional 20 MW will go on stream in January-February 2012. A 25 MW facility is in the pipeline in RR Nagar.
It has also secured power in Jayanthipuram and Alathiyur where each unit has 36 MW of captive thermal power.
For now it utilises 51 MW of wind power generation capacity, out of the total of 153 MW available with it, for captive use at RR Nagar cement plant. The balance 101 MW caters to the grid, he said.
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