ACC Ltd.’s net profit for the quarter ended December was Rs. 236 crores, although it was much less than 396 crore in the year-ago quarter was impacted by higher costs. However, on a sequential basis, they made a good comeback and more than doubled from Rs 113 crore in the previous quarter.
Reported Ebitda at Rs 588 crore was down 15.5% on a year-on-year basis, though improved by over 40% on a sequential basis. Ebitda is earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization,
ACC said that while fuel costs are declining, Ebitda is lower year-on-year due to higher fuel costs compared to last year. Further reduction in fuel cost is expected in the coming months through synergy with the group
The company’s revenue from operations stood at Rs 4,791 crore, however, an increase of 8.22% from Rs 4427 crore in the year-ago quarter. This was helped by higher cement sales volumes, including clinker, at 8.5 million tonnes (mt), up from 7.9 million tonnes in the year-ago quarter.
On a sequential basis, volumes improved from 7.7 million tonnes in the previous quarter. This helped the company report a 5.6% sequential improvement in revenue 4537 crore in the previous quarter.
The company said volumes grew 9% sequentially, supported by an increase in blended cement (clinker factor reduced to 54.8 from 56.1%), better route planning and higher operational synergies with parent, Ambuja Cements Ltd.
Also the kiln fuel cost reduced by 10% from Rs. 2.61 per 1000 kcal 2.35 per 1000 kcal with change in coal basket, group synergy on coal procurement, higher alternative fuel and raw material (AFR) factor. All this helped in sequential improvement in Ebitda and some reduction in logistics cost.
Mr. Ajay Kapoor, Whole Time Director & CEO, ACC Ltd. said, “Our transformation journey has been fueled by greater operational efficiencies, better synergies and business excellence, which have resulted in significant improvement in our financial performance and overall business indicators. We have a detailed roadmap on each of the cost factors and mitigation and improvement initiatives.”
On expansion, the company’s Ametha Integrated Unit is to be commissioned by Q2 FY24 which will increase the clinker capacity to 3.30. MT per annum (Environment clearance approval in hand for 2.75 MTPA) and grinding capacity 1 MTPA.
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