India Cements PBT drops by 75% to Rs 26.06 in Q1, blames lockdowns

Company shut down operations late March, when govt announced the first nationwide restrictions to contain the coronavirus

India Cements' profit before tax (PBT) dropped by 75.26 per cent to Rs 26.06 crore in the quarter ended June 30, compared to Rs 105.35 crore in the same period last year. The company’s total income dropped to Rs 760.32 crore from Rs 1,472 crore.

The spread of the coronavirus disease and lockdowns to contain it had hurt the construction industry but it still manged to do well, said the company on Monday. 

"With improved selling prices and with control on distribution costs, the plant realisation increased by 16 per cent during the quarter. The drop in volume alone had accounted for a contribution loss of more than Rs.216 crore," said the management.

The construction industry steeply decline in growth in April 2020 and then started recovering slowly in May 2020, riding on improved rural demand. The company said it is slowly scaling up operations after lockdowns to contain the coronavirus were relaxed in April 2020. 

According to a publication by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, the cement industry reported a de-growth of 86 per cent in production in the month of April 2020 and improved to register a de-growth of 23 per cent in May 2020 together accounting for a decline of 54% in cement production up to May 2020.