Firm realisations, cost control boost ACC's June quarter performance

Improvement in per tonne profitability, despite sharp fall in volumes due to lockdown, may lead to earnings upgrade

ACC’s performance for the second quarter ending June 2020 (Q2) bore the brunt of lockdown as cement sales volumes declined. The company follows January-December accounting year. However, good realisations and cost control measures lifted the operational performance.

While cement demand was significantly impacted in the peak months of April and May, some recovery was seen in June. Yet, ACC’s sales volumes declined 34 per cent year-on-year and 27 per cent sequentially to 4.8 million tonnes (MT) during the quarter. However, this was in line with estimates of brokerages such as Emkay Global.

Cement realisations held the fort. Aided by production