New Delhi: Dalmia Bharat Ltd on Wednesday said its consolidated net profit declined 46.5% year-on-year in January-March to ₹315 crore, hurt by a drop in cement prices that eroded margin.
The Delhi-based cement manufacturer had reported a net profit of ₹589 crore in the same period of FY23.
Yet, the company remains confident of demand growth, as it reported a consolidated revenue of ₹4,307 crore in the final quarter of FY24, a 10% increase from a year earlier. Sales volume rose 18.5% to 8.8 million tonnes (mt).
“The cement sector has a pivotal role in India’s growth story and infrastructure, housing, and private capex will drive the demand growth for the next decade and beyond,” said Puneet Dalmia, managing director & CEO of Dalmia Bharat. “We will continue to work on gaining market share and improving realizations while deepening the cost leadership. I remain excited about the tremendous opportunity ahead and believe that we are on a clear path of accelerated growth backed by sustainable business investments, a strong balance sheet, and a dedicated team.”
Rating agency Crisil on Tuesday said that cement volume growth recovered to a healthy 7-8% year-on-year in the last quarter of fiscal 2024, on aggressive volume push, after growing 15% on-year in the first half and logging a moderate slowdown in the third quarter due to regional hindrances.
“This ensured the third straight year of healthy demand growth at 11% in fiscal 2024 to 441 mt. On this high base, Crisil MI&A Research expects demand growth to cool to 6-7% in fiscal 2025,” it added.
During the quarter, companies aggressively pushed volume at the expense of pricing, leading to a 6% sequential decline in cement prices to ₹370-375 on average per 50-kg bag. “Cement prices have been subdued, declining 1.5% to ₹383-385 per bag on average in fiscal 2024 from an all-time high of ₹391 per bag in fiscal 2023,” Crisil noted.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (Ebitda) for Dalmia Bharat stood at ₹654 crore, with an Ebitda margin of 15.18%.
“We bounced back and delivered an industry-leading volume growth…During the ensuing year, we will continue to focus on our levers of long-term cost savings including renewable energy, operationalizing our captive coal mines, digitization of supply chain, and investing in our brand,” said Dharmender Tuteja, chief financial officer, Dalmia Bharat.
For the full financial that ended on 31 March, it reported a consolidated profit after tax of ₹826 crore, a fall of 20.19%. Its revenue was ₹14,691 crore, a rise of 8.4% over FY23. “During FY24, we delivered volume growth of 11.8% at 28.8 mt and Ebitda growth of 13.4% at ₹2,639Cr,” added Dalmia.
In FY24, the company also increased its installed manufacturing capacity by more than 15% to 44.6 mt.
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Published: 24 Apr 2024, 09:37 PM IST