India Cements Q1 net drops 20% to Rs 210.3 mn, total income at Rs 13 bn

India Cements net profit has declined 20.4 per cent to Rs210.3 million during the quarter ended June 30, 2018, as compared to Rs264.4 million during the same quarter of the previous year. Total income for the quarter stood at Rs13.66 billion, a decline of 6.82 per cent from Rs14.66 billion during the same quarter last year.

The steep drop in Net Plant Realisation (NPR) by nearly nine per cent, when compared to the same quarter of the previous year, meant a bottomline impact of nearly Rs1.04 billion for the quarter, said N Srinivasan, vice-chairman and MD of India Cements. 

The variable cost was also higher by five per cent during the quarter, owing to the higher fuel price and petroleum products prices. 

The operating performance during the quarter had substantially improved, with capacity utilisation of 80 per cent as compared to 67 per cent in the same quarter of the previous year.  The fixed cost declined with the reduction in man power cost, selling and distribution expenses, policy changes etc, thus reducing the administrative overheads.

Despite lower NPR and higher variable cost, with the increase in volume and reduction in fixed cost, Ebitda was Rs1.62 billion against Rs1.91 billion last year.