NEW DELHI: India Cements has delivered a robust full year as well as fourth-quarter earnings on the back of sustained cost control measures and better cement prices even as the factory operated only at 50 percent capacity the whole of last year.
The Chennai-based company reported a net profit of Rs. 72 crore when compared with a net loss of Rs. 111 crores in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to Rs.1,450 crore as against Rs. 1,152 crore during the same quarter last fiscal while EBITDA, a metric used to evaluate operating performance, stood significantly higher at Rs. 213 crore when compared with Rs. 85 crore in March 2020 quarter. For the full year 2020-21, the company registered a net profit of Rs 222 crore as against a net loss of Rs. 36 crore in the previous fiscal. Revenue stood at Rs. 4,437 crore as against Rs. 5,057 crore in FY20. Better net plant realisation (up 16 per cent) coupled with reduction in fixed cost made up the shortfall in cement sales. In FY21, total volume of clinker and cement fell 19 per cent at 89.02 lakh tonnes as against 110.22 lakh tonnes in FY20.
Elevated raw material prices, however, remain a concern and the company is likely to hike prices in the coming months. “We have already increased cement prices by about Rs.10 per bag, in May and June also we may see an increase of Rs 10-15 per bag,” said N Srinivasan, vice-chairman & managing director of India Cements.
Terming the impact of the second wave as a “minor setback”, Srinivasan is hopeful that there will be a lot of pent-up demand as the lockdown starts to ease in the second half of the calendar year. As a result, the company has kept its business plan intact. “I do not feel the need to change my business plan which I have developed for the whole year including repayment of Rs.600 crore debt. We would complete the capex plans in Sankar Nagar and Waste Heat Recovery Project in Chilamkur in Andhra Pradesh, but will take a call on expansion in the north later,” said Srinivasan, who has also been reappointed as managing period by the board for a period of five years with effect from May 26, subject to the shareholders’ approval.