Coal news and updates

JK Lakshmi FY15 standalone net profit increases 3%

May 18: JK Lakshmi Cement reported a 2.80% increase in its standalone net profit to Rs 95.60 crore for 2014-15 against a net profit of Rs 93 crore earned in the previous fiscal, the company said in a statement on May 15.

For the final quarter (January-March) of the fiscal under review, however, the net profit of the company dropped nearly 89% to Rs 6.05 crore from a net profit of Rs 52.91 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal, the company statement said.

However, JK Lakshmi Cement’s revenues for the fiscal under review increased 12% to Rs 2,307.06 crore from Rs 2,056.6 crore during previous fiscal.

Lesser demand of cement, especially in the rural areas, increase in limestone prices due to royalty and higher power and freight charges, the company said.

“The cement industry has witnessed an unprecedented January-March quarter with a negative growth which is normally characterized as one of the better quarters in terms of volume as well as in terms of prices …,” the company statement said.

“The company has suffered relatively higher because of rural focus, which in fact has been a major strength in past years. Unseasonal rain during the final quarter affected rural consumption,” the statement added, “On account of the fall in demand cement surplus increased considerably in the company’s marketing zone and hence the process declined continuously,” it said.

However, JK Lakshmi Cement expects that the current scenario of lower cement prices is not likely to last long as there is a possibility of increase in demand followed by the impetus given to infrastructure and housing.