UltraTech Q3 net marginally up to Rs 400 crore

UltraTech Cement today reported a marginal increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 399.98 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2014, from Rs 395.11 crore in the same period last year.
Total income stood at Rs 5,947.16 crore in the quarter under review whereas the same was Rs 5,169.59 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2013, the Aditya Birla Group company said in a statement here.
The current year figures includes the financial results of the acquired units of Jaypee Cement Corporation with effect from June 12, 2014, it said.
On a sequential basis, prices witnessed a downward trend. However, the ongoing cost optimisation measures helped the company in containing costs despite the continuing increase in price of input material and logistics cost.

The company board had earlier approved the acquisition of cement business of Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) situated at Bela and Sidhi in Madhya Pradesh having a capacity of 4.9 million tonnes per annum together with 180 MW TPP (thermal power plant).
Commenting on the outlook, the company said the business prospect continues to remain challenging. The demand growth in the long term is likely to be around 8 per cent and the key drivers will continue to be housing and infrastructure spends.