Coal news and updates

ACC second quarter net profit down 7.10%

July 25: ACC Limited, a major cement producer in the country, reported a 7.10% drop in its net profit for the second (April-June) quarter of 2014. The company’s financial year is at par with the calendar year) to Rs 243.15 crore against Rs 261.76 crore reported in the same quarter of the previous year, the company said in a statement.

For the first six months, AC’s net profit dropped 8.14% to Rs 643.00 crore against Rs 700 crore recorded in the same period of 2013.

However, the sales turnover of the company during the period rose by 7.83% to Rs 3,008.99 crore against a turnover of Rs 2,790.38 crore recorded in the second quarter of 2013.

“Manufacturing and distribution costs continued to face escalation, though we derived some benefits from the ongoing cost leadership programme and an increase in the sales of premium products,” the company statement said.

During the quarter under review, the company’s cement production increased nearly 4% to 6.35 million tons (mt) compared to 6.12 mt in the corresponding quarter of 2013 while in the first six months of 2014 the cement production rose nearly 2% to 12.83 mt against a quantum of 12.54 mt in the same period of 2013.

“Demand for cement showed some improvement... We expect the positive trend in demand for cement to continue as a result of the government’s emphasis on housing and infrastructure development,” the statement added.

Following are the Q2 and H1 results of ACC Limited in 2014 and 2013 (in Rs crore):