Ambuja Cements said on Tuesday that its consolidated net profit for the three months ended on March 31, 2023, had decreased by 10.87% to Rs. 763.30 crore.
According to Ambuja Cements in a BSE filing, the business, which is now a part of the Adani Group, reported a net profit of Rs 856.46 crore during the January-March quarter last year.
During the reviewed quarter, its consolidated revenue from operations remained almost constant at Rs 7,965.98 crore. In the same period of the previous fiscal year, it was Rs 7,900.04 crore.
The financial results of Ambuja Cements' step-down company, ACC Ltd, in which it has an interest of around 51%, are included in the company's consolidated results.
Total costs at Ambuja Cements were Rs 7,118.71 crore, up 4.47 percent from Rs 6,813.51 crore the previous year.
In the March quarter, its total consolidated sales increased 3.25 percent to Rs 8,250.45 crore.
Separately, Ambuja Cements reported that its net profit increased by 1.61 percent to Rs 502.40 crore in the January-March quarter from Rs 494.41 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
When compared to the previous period, its standalone operating revenue increased by 8.39% to Rs 4,256.31 crore from Rs 3,926.73 crore.
It said that “sustained volume growth supported by an increase in blended cement (clinker factor reduced from 62.5 to 60.6 percent), better route planning, and higher operational synergies with its subsidiary, ACC,” with the caveat that “market leadership strongly maintained across key markets.”
Ambuja Cements' standalone sales volume increased 2.66 percent to 7.7 million tonnes (MT) from 7.2 MT.
Ambuja Cements said in its results release that “the growth in revenue is despite the adverse impact on volumes from halting the operations at the Himachal Pradesh plants for 50 days.”
Costs were lowered by Rs 228 PMT in the March quarter, and more cost reductions are anticipated based on cost optimisation and the use of synergies from the group's adjacent companies.
Business excellence activities are anticipated to further lower operational costs, lower the clinker factor, lower logistics costs, enhance blended cement sales, and increase EBITDA margin, according to the statement.
On a consolidated basis, nevertheless, its sales volume fell by 2% to 14.1 MT in the period of January to March. In the comparable quarter, it was 14.4 MT.
The combined income from operations for Ambuja Cement for the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2023 (or for 15 months this year) was Rs 30,937.03 crore. It had a net profit of Rs 3,02438 crore over the aforementioned time.
Ambuja Cement claims that the company has moved the end of its fiscal year from December to March.
“Therefore, the figure for the current year is for fifteen months and is not comparable with the figures for the previous twelve months year ended December 31, 2021,” it said.
Ajay Kapur, the CEO of Ambuja Cements, said that the firm has announced again another solid performance, which has been fueled by strategic efforts on business excellence, operational efficiency, and synergies.
“Our emphasis on operational excellence and cost-cutting strategies has resulted in increased profitability. We were able to continue on our upward growth trend and further solidify our market position. We anticipate that the increased demand and solid volume trends will continue in the next quarters as building activity increases across all of our markets, the company said.
“We, at Ambuja, remain committed to delivering sustainable growth and value to our stakeholders,” he said. “We are confident that our ongoing investments in capacity expansion and sustainability will enable us to achieve our long-term objectives.”
The Adani Group has expressed optimism about the future in light of the government's increasing investment in infrastructure development, notably in roads, railroads, affordable housing, and other programmes, as outlined in the most recent Union Budget.
The government's prompt and proactive actions, it added, “will open more opportunities for the cement sector, that will stimulate cement demand and enhance economic growth.”
Abuja Cement said in a separate filing that the board has proposed a dividend of 125 percent, or Rs 2.50 per equity share worth Rs 2, for the fiscal year that ends on March 31, 2023.
On Tuesday, Ambuja Cements' stock price on the BSE decreased by 0.48 percent to end at Rs 394.40.
