Ambuja Cements consolidated net rises 24% to Rs 732 cr in December quarter

'Margin expanded by 410 bps during the quarter and 480 basis points for the full year backed by strong performance in price, volume and costs,' says CEO

Ambuja Cements reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 732 crore in the December quarter, up 24 per cent from same period last year on the back of increased revenue.

The company’s topline in the period under review stood at Rs 7,453 crore, up 4.5 per cent from last year due to 7 per cent increase in volumes coupled with higher prices.

During the quarter ended review, the company incurred a charge of Rs 176.01 crore in respect of impairment of assets of its subsidiary, ACC Limited, at Madukkarai unit, as the carrying amount exceeded its recoverable amount and disclosed as an exceptional item. Meanwhile, the company’s earnings before, interest, taxes, depreciation and ammortisation (EBITDA) increased by 32 per cent for the quarter, while the margin expansion for the quarter was up 400 basis points. There was a 47 percent growth in operating EBIT in the Q4CY2020 and 15 percent growth in operating EBIT for the full year CY2020.

On standalone basis, the company’s topline was at Rs 3,515 crore, while the bottomline was at Rs 497 crore.

"Ambuja continues its journey of delivering strong performance with EBITDA growth of 40 per cent in the quarter and 23 percent for the full year 2020. Margin expanded by 410 bps during the quarter and 480 basis points for the full year backed by strong performance in price, volume and costs. We have witnessed significant acceleration in volumes under the MSA with ACC," said Neeraj Akhoury, managing director and chief executive officer, Ambuja Cements.

As per Bloomberg estimates, the company’s topline was seen at Rs 2,697 crore, while bottomline was expected to be at Rs 374 crore.

During the quarter, the performance of the material subsidiary, ACC Ltd, showed that the net sales increased to Rs 4,066 crore as compared to Rs 3,970 crore last year. The EBITDA during the quarter stood at Rs 701 Crore, a growth of 30 per cent as against previous year with a margin expansion of 360 basis points.

The subsidiary also generated additional cash and cash equivalents of Rs 1,357 crore during the year 2020, driven mainly by strong working capital actions, informed the company in its release.

Total operating cost per tonne declined 2 percent supported by operational efficiency programs in the plants as well as logistics efficiencies. These have been partly compensated due to impact of rising fuel costs, said the company.

Ambuja generated Rs 2,606 crore from operations led by improved performance and efficient working capital management. The Greenfield project at Marwar Mundwa, Rajasthan will commission this year. "This will further improve our market position in North and West regions," said the company.