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UltraTech Cement, the country’s largest cement maker, reported a 69 per cent rise in net profit for the July-September quarter of 2023 (Q2FY24), led mainly by 15 per cent volume growth and a higher cost base of last year.
Cement demand maintained its positive momentum during Q2FY24, UltraTech said in a press statement. “The company witnessed demand from all sectors, fuelled by government-led infrastructure, rural development and urban residential demand.”
The company’s profit after tax (PAT) for the September quarter stood at Rs 1,281 crore, up 69 per cent from a year ago, and net sales at Rs 16,012.1 crore, 15.3 per cent higher than a year ago. The company beat Street expectations both on revenue and profitability.
In a Bloomberg poll earlier, 17 analysts had estimated the revenue to be Rs 15,769 crore, and 18 expected it to be Rs 1334 crore.
On a sequential basis, the company reported a 24 per cent drop in PAT, given that this was a seasonally weak quarter.
The company reported steady year-on-year volume growth of 15 per cent to 25.66 million tonnes for the India market, and 58 per cent growth for export markets. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) stood at Rs 2,718 crore, up 35 per cent from a year ago. Its Ebitda on a per-tonne basis remained below the Rs 1,000 mark, but it rose to Rs 956 from Rs 808 in the year-ago period.
In its outlook for the next two quarters, UltraTech said demand revival was imminent, especially during the festival season and the January-March peak construction period. Demand would also be led by pre-election spending, continued government push on infrastructure development, and sustained real estate development, it said.
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On its ongoing capacity addition, the company said that 5.5 mtpa had already been commissioned this financial year, taking the total grey cement manufacturing capacity in India to 132.45 mtpa. It added that work on its second phase of growth (of 22.6 mtpa) was in full swing and that commercial production from all these new capacities would go on stream in a phased manner by next financial year or FY26.
