Prism Cement standalone Q1 net loss at Rs 8 cr

Prism Cement today reported a standalone net loss of Rs 8.04 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.
The company had reported a net profit of Rs 13.24 crore in the year-ago period.
Net sales of the company for the quarter stood at Rs 1,365.94 crore, against Rs 1,383.91 crore in the year-ago period, Prism Cement said in a regulatory filing.
"The highlight during the quarter was improvement in cement EBITA at Rs 507/tonne for quarter ended June 30, 2015 up from Rs 433/tonne during the quarter ended March 31,2015 despite lower volumes and realisations," the filing said.
The company sold 13.60 lakh tonnes of cement and clinker in April-June 2015 as against 15.12 lakh tonnes for the quarter ended June 30, 2014, it said.

While the overall volume decline including clinker was 10 per cent Y-o-Y, the cement volume declined by 4.8 per cent, it added.

The company took various cost rationalisation measures in 2014-15 such as resorting to imported coal, increase in pet-coke consumption, reduction in power consumption amongst others. In line with communication, the incremental benefits of these measures are reflected in the first quarter of 2015-16, the company said.
Commenting on the future outlook, the company said, "While the near term outlook remains challenging also due to seasonality, cement demand is expected to pick in the second half of 2015-16. The long term drivers for cement demand remain intact."

"Higher government spending on infrastructure, robust growth in rural housing and rising per capita incomes are likely to augur well for the cement industry.