Comments
Ambuja Cements, part of the Holcim group, has reported 39 per cent drop in the March quarter at ₹318 crore (₹520 crore) due to lower production.
Net sales were down eight per cent at ₹2,425 crore (₹2,638 crore). EPS for the quarter stood at ₹2.05 against ₹3.36.
The company’s cement production was down eight per cent at 5.35 million tonnes (5.88 mt). Ambuja Cements attributed lower production to muted demand.
The negative impact of dip in production and net sales revenue during the quarter under review, the impact was marginally offset by better realisations.
Improved operational efficiencies restricted the impact of cost increases. However, this could not be fully mitigated through prices increases, said the company. Fall in sales resulted in operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation was down 13 per cent at ₹510 crore (₹589 crore).
The company had recorded a tax write back of ₹95 crore in the March quarter last year.
In the recent e-auction conducted by the Government, the company had won the Gare-Palma coal block in Chhattisgarh. It plans to start mining by 2018 and invest ₹370 crore in developing the mines.
Ambuja expects demand for cement to improve in coming days with the Government focus on investment in infrastructure and emphasis on housing.
Shares of the company were up four per cent at ₹239 on Wednesday.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.