Ambuja Cements reports 51% rise in net profit at Rs 804 cr in Sept qtr

Ambuja Cements on Thursday reported 50.51 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 803.50 crore for September quarter 2020, helped by volume growth and improvement in operational efficiencies.

The company, which follows January-December financial year, had clocked a net profit of Rs 533.85 crore in the year-ago period, Ambuja Cements said in a BSE filing.

Revenue from operations was up 1.51 per cent at Rs 6,169.47 crore during the quarter as compared to Rs 6,077.29 crore in July-September a year ago.

Total expenses were at Rs 5,144.38 crore, down from Rs 5,400.94 crore a year ago.

The consolidated results of Ambuja Cements also include the financial performance of its step-down firm ACC.

On a standalone basis, Ambuja Cements, part of Swiss firm LafargeHolcim, reported an increase of 87.77 per cent in net profit at Rs 440.53 crore as against Rs 234.61 crore in the year-ago period.

Revenue from operations was Rs 2,852.46 crore, up 8.63 per cent as compared to the year-ago period.

Ambuja Cements' sales volume also increased 8.41 per cent to 5.67 million tonne as against 5.23 million tonne in the same period a year ago.

"Robust improvements in operational efficiencies, cost reduction programs coupled with volume growth, have led to operating EBITDA increase by 55 per cent for the quarter and a margin expansion of 710 basis points," Managing Director and CEO Neeraj Akhoury said.

The company's focus on working capital management has resulted in a strong positive cash conversion, he added.

We are executing our growth strategy, through a new plant at Marwar Mundwa in Rajasthan, which is scheduled to be commissioned in Quarter 2, 2021, he said.

Shares of Ambuja Cements on Thursday settled at Rs 253.85 apiece on BSE, up 0.18 per cent from the previous close.