Shree Cement Ltd (SCL) has recorded a near 60 per cent increase in sales and a near 600 per cent increase in net profit in the quarter ending September in the current fiscal compared to the same quarter last year.
Apparently, the robust numbers have come because of higher realisations since the company has registered a near 25 per cent increase in expenses. But as the market today was weak and as the stock has had a phenomenal run this year, the stock shed some value despite its sterling show.
According to the unaudited financial results for the first quarter of this year (the company has changed its FY to July-June from this year), SCL’s total income from operations was Rs 1323.79 crore compared to Rs 852 crore in the same quarter last year. The cost of material consumed had gone up by about 30 per cent to Rs 127.50 crore from Rs 95.38 crore. However, provision for depreciation and amortisation was down sharply to Rs 94.15 crore (Rs 161.92 crore).
However there was a sharp uptick in costs. While power and fuel costs went up by more than 50 per cent to Rs 329.04 crore in the September-ending quarter this year compared to Rs 201.61 crore in the same quarter last year, freight and forward cost and other expenses went up sharply. The total expenses were Rs 1,024.15 crore compared to Rs 813.60 crore during the same quarter last year.
The profit from ordinary activities before tax virtually zoomed — from Rs 10.79 crore in the same quarter last year to Rs 273.66 crore now. After making tax provisions, the net profit was Rs 228.13 crore in the quarter ending September 2012 compared to Rs 38.49 crore in the same period last year. The cash EPS was Rs 91.73 (Rs 56.60).
But in the BSE, the stock was down by Rs 26.20 at Rs 4,054. In fact, the stock had shed about 10 per cent from its 52-week high of Rs 4,442 that it touched on October 1. However, in the past one year, the stock had appreciated by more than 100 per cent — from a 52-week low of Rs 1,823 on October 17, 2011, to its current levels, in line with the appreciation cement sector stocks have witnessed in the past one year.