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UltraTech Cement, an Aditya Birla Group company, reported that its net profit was up 19 per cent in the March quarter due to higher production.
The board has recommended a dividend of Rs 8 a share, leading to a total outgo of Rs 255 crore, including tax of Rs 36 crore.
The company produced 11.54 million tonnes (mt) in the March quarter against 10.70 mt in the same period last year, an increase of eight per cent.
Total expenses were up 17 per cent at Rs 4,306 crore (Rs 3,682 crore) with power and fuel bill jumping 23 per cent to Rs 1,190 crore (Rs 968 crore) and freight cost rising 14 per cent to Rs 1,089 crore (Rs 955 crore).
For the financial year ended March, net profit was up 42 per cent at Rs 2,446 crore (Rs 1,719 core), while sales were up 18 per cent at Rs 18,166 crore (Rs 15,406 crore).
Rising input cost
The combined cement and clinker sales was at 40.73 mt (39.74 mt) during the fiscal.
The variable cost increased by 13 per cent driven by high input and energy costs.
The price of coal moved up sharply during the entire fiscal (between 30 per cent and 150 per cent in the March quarter), the company said in a press release on Monday.
Further, logistics cost also rose on account of the increase in railway freight, it added.
The profit margins of cement companies are expected to be adversely impacted due to the rising input cost. The surplus in supply is likely to continue for the next three years.
However, the cement industry will grow over eight per cent linked to the Government's focus of infrastructure development, it said.
The company's initiative towards setting up of additional clinker plants at Chhattisgarh and Karnataka together with grinding units, bulk packaging terminals and ready-mix concrete plants is progressing on schedule and are expected to be operational from early FY14.
Consequently, the company's cement capacity will be enhanced by 10.2 mt a year.
The company's shares were up 0.37 per cent at Rs 1,467 on Monday on the BSE.
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