Ambuja Cements December quarter net profit up 13.2% to Rs 487.8 crore

New Delhi: Ambuja Cements, now part of the Adani Group, on Tuesday reported a 13.2 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit to Rs 487.88 crore for the December quarter of 2022-23.

The company had clocked a net profit of Rs 430.97 crore in the year-ago quarter, Ambuja Cements said in a BSE filing.

Its revenue from operations rose 3.69 per cent to Rs 7,906.74 crore as compared to Rs 7,625.28 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

Ambuja Cements' total expenses were at Rs 7,278.89 crore, up 6.01 per cent from Rs 6,865.61 crore a year ago.

The consolidated results of Ambuja Cements include the financial performance of its step-down firm ACC Ltd, in which it owns around 51 per cent stake.

On a standalone basis, Ambuja Cements reported an increase of 45.95 per cent in its net profit to Rs 368.99 crore as against Rs 252.81 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Its standalone revenue from operations increased 10.39 per cent to Rs 4,128.52 crore, as against Rs 3,739.92 crore earlier.

Sales volume on a standalone basis was up 12.33 per cent to 7.7 million tonnes (MT) from 7.2 MT.

This was "supported by an increase in blended cement, better route planning and higher operational synergies with its subsidiary, ACC. Market leadership strongly maintained across key markets," said an earning statement from Ambuja Cements.

However, on a consolidated basis, its sales volume declined 3.52 per cent to 137 MT in the October-December quarter. It was 14.2 MT in the corresponding quarter.

"The Company has embarked on a transformation journey this quarter which has resulted in sizeable operational efficiencies. Additionally, synergies with the group have supported cost optimization resulting in significant improvements in most business parameters of the Company," a statement said.

Ambuja Cements CEO Ajay Kapur said during the quarter, the cement sector saw higher production & capacity utilisation on account of a pickup in demand.

"The Company has maintained a healthy top line and leadership position in its core markets with a stronger Ambuja & ACC product portfolio. EBITDA margins expanded due to relentless focus on reduction in fuel and logistics costs by leveraging synergies with Group Companies," he said.

He further said, “The Company remains debt free with a healthy position of Cash & Cash Equivalents, which augurs very well for its journey to achieve scale and market leadership. Our focus to ramp up capacity in an efficient way to ensure to be one of the lowest cost producers is on track." Over the outlook, Kapur said Business initiatives are expected to further bring down operating cost, reduce clinker factor, reduce logistics cost, improve sales of blended cement and expand EBITDA margin.

"We expect cement demand to further grow in coming quarters on the back of increased infrastructure activities given sharp focus on infrastructure capex in this Budget,” said Kapur.

Shares of Ambuja Cements on Tuesday settled at Rs 383.70 on BSE, up 1.12 per cent from the previous close.