Ramco Cement PBT drops 43% to Rs 157.5 cr in Q1, firm cites Covid impact

Revenue dropped 24 per cent to Rs 1,056.79 crore, EBITDA down 27%

Ramco Cement reported a profit before tax of Rs 157.50 crore during the quarter ended June 30, 2020, down 43 per cent from Rs 279.93 crore a year ago. The firm's revenue dropped 24 per cent to Rs 1,056.79 crore from Rs 1,396.82 crore.

The company said in a statement that profitability for the current quarter was impacted due to Covid-19. EBITDA was Rs 270.07 crore during the reporting quarter, down 27 per cent from Rs 367.48 crore a year ago, mainly due to drop in sale volumes. 

Raw material costs include consumption of purchased clinker, a one-off item during the reporting quarter. Power and fuel cost were lower due to benign prices of fuels like pet coke and coal. Lower sales volume resulted in under-absorption of overheads. The company has taken various sustainable austerity measures to reduce overheads. For the current quarter, the company has expensed Rs 8.74 crore towards Employees stock options on pro-rata basis for the options granted during the previous year.

The company said progress of the ongoing capex programme has been delayed due to Covid-19. The company has invested Rs 257 crore during the quarter ended June 30, 2020 towards total capex including for the ongoing capacity expansion programme.