Rainfall hits India Cements sales

The excessive rainfall in the city and its suburbs has badly affected the sales of India Cements Ltd and the company hopes that re-building activities in new year would compensate the losses.
"...The unexpected heavy rains in November and December have badly affected sales", India Cements Vice-Chairman and Managing Director N Srinivasan said at the company's AGM here.
"It is hoped that from the new year, the re-building activities would to some extent, compensate the loss suffered in cement consumption during heavy rains", he said.
On the outlook for the company he said it was looking at increasing exports to Sri Lanka besides retaining focus on "cutting costs" and "improving margin".

Last year, the total export of cement and clinkers was five lakh tonne.
"This year, it has exported one lakh tonne of clinker, mainly to Sri Lanka. With the entry of new players in the export markets, it has become difficult to export. But the company is looking at increasing exports to Sri Lanka", he said.

Going forward the company will retain focus on cutting costs and improve its margin. It expects its performance to be better during the fourth quarter (of current financial year), he said.
Stating that the cement industry was facing a substantial "over capacity" especially in the Southern region, he said, "despite this, India Cements has achieved a turnaround during 2014-15 by cutting costs and improving margin".

The company was operating the plant capacity at 58 per cent, he said and added India Cements posted profit before tax of Rs 117 crore in the first six months of current financial year while net profits were at Rs 81 crore.
The company was hoping to benefit from the Andhra Pradesh Government's Housing scheme for weaker sections.