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The India Cements Ltd. (ICL) reported a standalone net profit of ₹57 crore for the June quarter against net loss of ₹75 crore posted in the year-earlier period, aided by a ₹241-crore profit from the sale of Parli grinding unit in April.
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Revenue from operations contracted 30% to ₹972 crore, while input costs declined by ₹74 crore to ₹182 crore, the cement major said in a statement.
Cement and clinker volumes slid to 19.61 lakh tonnes from 26.66 lakh tons. The overall blended cement proportion was at 61% compared with 59% last year.
ICL said its capacity utilisation was severely impacted caused by the continuous liquidity crunch on account of losses sustained in the earlier quarters. The company could not take advantage of the reduced fuel cost as operating margins shrank further on account of low volumes.
The higher cost of production compared with peers due to varying vintage of the plants together with free fall in cement prices affected the dispatch and the margins, the statement said.
The company said it had initiated steps at a few plants for optimising plant efficiencies which had started showing results.
“ICL intends to implement it across all its manufacturing plant. It has also garnered sufficient funds for the plant optimisation following the share purchase agreement it entered with UltraTech Cement recently,” the company said.
On the outlook, ICL said the medium-term prospects augured well for the industry due to normal rainfall, uptick in rural demand, and announcement of huge investments in the next five years on infrastructure and housing projects.
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India Cements turns ₹57 crore profit in Q1
