UltraTech Cement, an Aditya Birla Group company, has reported that its net profit in the December quarter was down 17 per cent to ₹1,474 crore against ₹1,775 crore logged in the same period last year, largely due to lower realisation.
Revenue was up at ₹17,194 crore (₹16,740 crore). Operational cost increased to ₹15,605 crore (₹14,531 crore). Sales volume increased 11 per cent to 30 million tonnes (mt).
EBITDA was down 8 per cent to ₹3,131 crore (₹3,395 crore). Sales realisation declined 10 per cent to ₹248 (₹275) per 50-kg bag.
Logistics and fuel cost increased 29 per cent and 21 per cent to ₹1,161 per tonne and ₹883 per tonne, while power and raw material expenses jumped 10 per cent and 15 per cent to ₹402 a tonne and ₹633 a tonne. UltraTech had achieved a capacity utilisation of 73 per cent during the quarter.
Capacity up in South
The company has doubled its production capacity in Tamil Nadu to 12 mtpa with the acquisition of India Cements, while in Karnataka it has gone up to 16 mtpa from 7 mtpa with the acquisition of Kesoram Industries. It added fresh capacity of 7 mtpa in Telangana and 2 mtpa in Andhra Pradesh, taking its total capacity to 15 mtpa. The series of acquisitions in South India has pushed up the company’s capacity to 50 mtpa (26 mtpa). UltraTech expects to achieve over 200-mtpa cement capacity by FY27-end.
Following the acquisition of majority stake in India Cements, the company had made an open offer to acquire 26 per cent stake at ₹390 a share. The tendering period for the offer closed on January 21.
The number of shares tendered under the open offer was more than the size of the offer. Consequently, UltraTech will accept shares tendered on a proportionate basis and payment for shares accepted will be completed before February 4, it said.
The company has commenced 16 MW of Waste Heat Recovery System (WHRS) capacity in the quarter under review, taking the overall capacity to 324 MW. With this, the share of green power (including WHRS and RE Power) in its power mix has touched 33 per cent in the quarter.
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It expects to sustain volume growth of 8 per cent with the government’s focus on infrastructure and housing projects along with increased rural and urban demand.