The Ramco Cements Ltd. standalone net profit for the first quarter ended June dropped 43% to ₹110 crore on lower sales. Total income declined to ₹1,052 crore (₹1,392 crore). Cement sales fell 28% to 1.94 million tonnes due to Covid-led lockdown.
Cost of raw materials consumed include consumption of purchased clinker being one-off item. Power and fuel cost has reduced due to benign prices of fuels. The lower sales volume resulted in under-absorption of overheads. The company has taken various sustainable austerity measures to reduce overheads, it said.
During the current quarter, the company reduced its borrowings by ₹180 crore with tightening of its working capital after incurring above-mentioned capex of ₹257 crore. The company's gross debt as of June 2020 was ₹2,844 crore.
The company said ongoing capex programme was delayed due to COVID-19. The balance capex to be incurred is ₹1,180 crore for its ongoing capacity expansion.
