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ACC, one of the largest cement companies, has registered a net profit of ₹388 crore in the September quarter against a loss of ₹87 crore in the same period last year, on back of lower cost and better realisation.
The income increased 11 per cent to ₹4,645 crore (₹4,057 crore) in the quarter under review. EBITDA was up 13 per cent at ₹759 crore (₹673 crore) driven by cost savings and operational efficiency. EBITDA margin expanded by 14 percentage points to 16 per cent.
The overall cost was down marginally at ₹4,127 crore (₹4,162 crore) as the power and fuel cost dropped to ₹887 crore (₹1,318 crore) while freight expenses were down at ₹948 crore (₹983 crore).
Two new subsidiaries
In a bid to bring sharper focus, the Adani Group company has incorporated two new wholly-owned subsidiaries, ACC Concrete South and ACC Concrete West. Sales volume during the quarter increased 17 per cent to 8 million tonnes. The company started clinker production of 3.3 MTPA at Ametha in Madhya Pradesh.
Rise in productivity and fall in operational cost has improved the bottomline. Kiln fuel cost reduced by 42 per cent, driven by fuel mix optimisation and higher alternate fuel consumptions.
Waste Heat Recovery System at Kymore & Jamul of 22.4 MW became fully operational. In addition, 16.3 MW at Ametha is expected to be commissioned by December quarter. Overall, share of WHRS in total power consumption will increase to 9 per cent by the end of this fiscal against 3 per cent last quarter, said the company.
Ajay Kapur, Whole Time Director and CEO, ACC said the company’s profitability was boosted by operational efficiency, an increase of 1.5 percentage points of premium cement sales in trade segment to 32 per cent and net dealer addition across all markets was at 534 during the quarter.
Moreover, he said logistics efficiencies enhanced due to increase in direct road despatch to 58 per cent from 52 per cent and rise in rail coefficient by 5 percentage points to 34 per cent.
The company expects profitability of the cement industry to be driven by volume on the back of increased housing and infrastructure spend.
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