Coal news and updates

Ambuja Cements may commission Rabriyawas unit in 2014

February 7: Ambuja Cements Ltd expects to commission the expanded capacity at its Rabriyawas unit in Rajasthan in 2014 and Sankrail unit in West Bengal in 2015 even as it expects a subdued cement demand in the country due to the difficult macro-economic scenario, the company said while announcing the 2013 financial results.

After commissioning, grinding capacity of both the units will increase by 0.8 million tons (mt), the statement said.

The company reported a 49.31% increase in the net profit at Rs 316.50 crore during the October-December quarter (fourth quarter) of 2013 compared to a net profit of Rs 211.97 crore in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Income from operations during the quarter, however, dropped to Rs 2,191.34 crore from Rs 2,313.32 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

For the year ended 2013, net profit of the company dropped marginally to Rs 1,294.57 crore compared to a net profit of Rs 1,297.06 crore in 2012 while net sales for the year dropped 6.1% to Rs 9,086.84 crore in 2013 compared to Rs 9,674.94 crore in 2012.

During 2013, the company's cement sales dropped 1.8% to 21.60 mt from 21.99 mt in 2012.

The following table gives quarter-on-quarter and yearly performance of Ambuja Cements in 2013 and 2012 (in Rs crore):