India Cements reports ₹15.24 cr. profit; T.N. sales hit

Fuel costs, demand stress, petcoke ban add to woes: MD

CHENNAI: 11/02/2015 : N.Srinivasan,MD,India Cements. Photo : Special Arrangement

The India Cements Ltd. (ICL) reported a standalone net profit of ₹15.24 crore for the quarter ended December 2017 on a total income ₹1,216.75 crore.

Net profit had taken into account a MAT credit entitlement of ₹3.25 crore.

The net profit for the quarter ended December 2016 was ₹35.34 crore and total income was ₹1,270.95 crore. The figures, however, were not comparable since Q3 figures of 2017 included the numbers of merged entities Trinetra Cement and Trishul Concrete Products.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, N. Srinivasan, vice-chairman and MD, said the third quarter was the most challenging for the company as it had to contend with ‘a host of uncertainties’, ranging from rising fuel costs to demand stress due to sand mining issues and the court-ordered ban on usage of pet coke.

Sales took a blow in Tamil Nadu, the main market for ICL, he said. Despite capacity overhang, the cement industry saw a 6% growth in the South in the quarter. The overall growth in the first nine months, however, remained ‘meagre’, he said. Nevertheless, he said, the company managed to ‘reasonably maintain’ the margin despite a drop in net price realisation.

Road construction

To a question, he said demand primarily came from Telangana, A.P. and Maharashtra. Road project-related pick-up in activity aided demand push in Maharashtra, Mr. Srinivasan added.

Use of coal from its mines in Indonesia, he said, had helped trim power costs. He was hopeful that demand would pick up in the current quarter and witness double-digit growth post the general elections in 2019-20.