Ambuja's 2013 net remains flat; net sales declines 6%

Profit for December-ended quarter rises 49% to Rs 316 cr

Ambuja Cements, part of Swiss cement giant Holcim, has posted a rise of 49.31 per cent in its net profit at Rs 316.5 crore compared with Rs 211.97 crore in the corresponding previous quarter. The company's net sales during the quarter stood at Rs 2,297.6 crore against Rs 2,423.31 crore - a decline of 5.2 per cent.

While on the quarterly front, Ambuja managed to put a stunning performance when it comes to profitability, the year gone by was hard to digest for the company.

On the yearly front, the company's net profit remained flat at Rs 1,295 crore in CY2013 against Rs 1,297 crore in the previous year. On top of it, it sold nearly 2 per cent less cement during the year as its sales volume dipped to 21.69 million tonne against 21.99 million tonne.

Further, its net sales for the year declined by over 6 per cent to Rs 9,087 crore against Rs 9,675 crore.

Going forward, the cement major foresees challenges to stay. In a statement, Ambuja said, "The outlook continues to remain challenging due to difficult macro-economic condition and resultant subdued cement demand."

The company has declared a dividend of Rs 2.2 per share. Stocks of the company closed at Rs 155.80, up 0.4 per cent on BSE.