Poor demand, rising power cost and increase in freight charges have all combined to pull the PAT (profit after tax) of The India Cements Ltd. (ICL) down to Rs.49 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2012, from Rs.69.71 crore in the same quarter last year. Revenues were up marginally by 3 per cent to Rs.1,125.85 crore during the quarter under review, up from Rs.1,091.92 crore in the same quarter in the previous year. Earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation stood at Rs.208.23 crore, down from Rs.254.82 crore.
Addressing a press conference here on Monday, N. Srinivasan, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, said “this quarter was slaughtered by a steep rise in power costs.” Due to the 12-day power holiday and daily power cut in Andhra Pradesh, ICL had to buy 3.8 crore units (against 42 lakh units) of power during the quarter under review, that too at a higher prices of Rs.8.5-8.8 per unit. Power tariffs in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were revised upwards by Rs.1.5 and Re. 1 a unit, putting further strain on cost, he pointed out. To add to the woes, the demand, too, had not been good in the South, he pointed out.
To a query, he said the price was holding up. The gross plant realisation stood at Rs.5,030 (Rs.4,760) and the net realisation at Rs.3,530 (Rs.3,430) a tonne for the company. Mr. Srinivasan said ICL acquired a bulk carrier during the quarter, taking the total in its fold to three. The 52,489 dwt (dead weight tonnage)-carrier cost the company $15.8 million.
Given the situation, he said the company had turned out reasonable numbers.
