Coal news and updates

UltraTech net profit drops 52% in Q2

October 30: UltraTech Cement Limited, the largest cement manufacturing company of India, reported a 52% drop in net profit to Rs 264 crore in the quarter ended September 2013 (Q2, 2013-14) compared to Rs 550 crore net profit earned in the same period last year (quarter ended September 2012-13), said a company release.

Net sales of the company dropped 4.2% to Rs 4,502 crore for Q2 of 2013-14 compared to Rs 4,699 crore in the corresponding period last year (2012-13) while profit before interest, depreciation and tax (PBIDT) stood at is Rs 717 crore  the quarter ended September 2013 compared to 1,076 in the quarter ended September 2012.

Following are the Q2 results of UltraTech Cement Limited in 2013-14 and 2012-13 (in Rs crore) (unaudited)

 

The company said the main reasons for the drop in net profit for the quarter are lower demand and the volatile rupee-dollar ratio.

"The results for the quarter have been impacted mainly on account of lower selling prices and subdued demand. Cement demand remained sluggish on account of prolonged monsoon and low off take from the infrastructure and housing sectors. The benefit of softening in prices of imported coal was negated by the devaluation of the rupee.

Logistics and raw material costs continued to rise given the high diesel prices. However, optimisation of the fuel mix helped in curbing power and fuel cost to some extent," said company sources.

The company, however, is not very optimistic about the demand as it said, "The outlook continues to remain challenging. Demand growth in FY14 is likely to be around 5%, though in the long term growth is likely to be over 8%. The key demand drivers will continue be housing and infrastructure spends. 

Commenting on the capex plans, it said that during the second quarter, the company commissioned a 25 MW TPP at Rajashree Cement in Karnataka while its 1.6 mtpa cement mill at Jharsuguda in Odisha went on stream in October, 2013.