UltraTech Cement Q1 profit grows two-folds to Rs 1,700 cr; net sales up 54%

Aditya Birla group firm UltraTech Cement Ltd reported over two-fold jump in its consolidated net profit to Rs 1,700 crore in first quarter, helped by volume growth, increased operational efficiencies.

Aditya Birla group firm UltraTech Cement Ltd on Thursday reported an over two-fold jump in its consolidated net profit to Rs 1,700 crore in the first quarter ended June 2021, helped by volume growth and increased operational efficiencies.

The leading cement producer had posted a net profit of Rs 793.08 crore in the April-June quarter a year ago, UltraTech Cement said in a BSE filing.

Its revenue from operations was up 54.21 per cent to Rs 11,829.84 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 7,671.05 crore in the corresponding period of the last fiscal.

UltraTech Cement's total expenses were at Rs 9,508.26 crore, up 43.22 per cent, in Q1/FY 2021-22 as against Rs 6,638.90 crore.

During the quarter, its consolidated sales volume was at 21.53 million metric tonnes, registering a year-on-year growth of 47 per cent.

"Production costs during the quarter increased 11 per cent YoY, mainly on account of higher fuel prices," said UltraTech in a post earning statement.

The company continues to maintain tight control on costs and cash flow with a focus on operational efficiencies, it added.

"This has enabled UltraTech to achieve an effective capacity utilisation of 73 per cent during the quarter as against 46 per cent in Q1FY21," said UltraTech Cement.

While sharing updates over Covid-19, it said the virulent second wave "marginally" impacted cement demand.

"UltraTech is monitoring the impact of the second wave of the pandemic on its operations," the statement said adding the company continues to accord utmost primacy to the safety and well-being of its employees and business partners.

Updating over the capital expenditure, UltraTech said company's expansion programme is on track and estimated to be completed by at the end of FY23.

"On completion, the capacity will be augmented to 136.25 MT. Covid did cause some delays due to labour shortages and lockdowns," it said adding however, the company expects to commission all the projects as per the original schedule.

Over the outlook, UltraTech said with projections of a likely third wave, the company is closely monitoring the situation.

"It remains cautiously optimistic, given its inherent financial and operational resources and the government's continuing thrust on infrastructure activities and housing construction," said UtraTech.

Shares of UltraTech Cement Ltd on Thursday ended at Rs 7,459.85 on the BSE post afternoon, up 0.49 per cent from the previous close.