India Cements Q3FY22 Results: Profit slumps 94.7% YoY to Rs 3.30 crore

Cement maker and supplier India Cements Limited today reported a sharp fall of 94.7 per cent YoY in the standalone net profit at Rs 3.30 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, against Rs 62 crore posted in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. This slump in profit was dragged down by galloping coal prices and a pandemic-and rain-induced decline in demand for the building material.

The Chennai-based cement maker's revenue from operations dropped 4.5 per cent YoY to Rs 1,108 crore against Rs 1,160 crore posted in the year-ago quarter. EBITDA fell 51.6 per cent YoY to Rs 104 crore in the December 2021 quarter against Rs 215 crore posted in December 2020 quarter. The company's margin shrunk to 9.4 per cent in Q3FY22 against 18.5 per cent posted in Q3FY21.

Total expenses rose to Rs 1,109.05 crore from Rs 1,074.06 crore.

Talking about the performance the company in a statement said that the performance of the company was severely affected by the record monsoon in the southern states with consequent flooding in several areas which resulted in stalling of the construction activities. This was further compounded by downward movement in selling prices in the east and northeast markets from where the company withdrew as the sales in those areas became un-remunerative. This resulted in a lower volume for the quarter for the company which together with the onslaught of increased fuel prices had a telling impact on the bottom line for the quarter under review.

With this backdrop, the performance of the company has to be viewed which was sub-optimal during the quarter under review with a volume of 21.08 lakh tons for the quarter as compared to 23.77 lakh tons in the previous year (a drop of 11 per cent). For the nine months ended December 31, 2021, the overall volume was at 64.13 lakh tons up by 8 per cent as compared to 59.12 lakh tons. The capacity utilization of the company was around 54 per cent as compared to 61 per cent during the same quarter of the previous year.