Adani Group-owned Ambuja Cement, on Wednesday, reported a 31 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in consolidated net profit for the April-June quarter of financial year 2023-24 (Q1FY24). Profit after tax (PAT) for the quarter stood at Rs 1,135.46 crore as against Rs 865.44 crore profit seen in the corresponding quarter of the previous year (Q1FY23).
The consolidated net revenue from operations increased 9 per cent YoY to Rs 8,712.9 crore from Rs 8,032.88 crore. Further, Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation) rose by 55 per cent on year to Rs 1,930 crore, and Ebitda margin expanded from 15.5 per cent to 22.2 per cent.
At the bourses, shares of Ambuja Cement slipped 2 per cent in the intra-day trade to Rs 452 apiece. By comparison, the benchmark S&P BSE SEnsex was down 0.5 per cent at 10:00 AM.
The management said Ambuja Cement saw sustained volume growth, supported by increase in blended cement as well improvement in efficiency parameters. It also maintained strong market leadership in all key markets.
Kiln fuel cost reduced by 17 per cent from Rs 2.49 per 1,000 kCal to Rs. 2.07 per 1,000 kCal. Fuel cost to be further optimised in future through mix optimisation. WHRS of 18 MW at Bhatapara, Suli and Rauri have been commissioned in current quarter, and additional 33 MW at Suli, Ametha and Maratha is expected in this year. With this, total WHRS capacity will be at 121 MW by year end.
“Along with the strong demand for our premium cement products, growth was fueled by our various competences in operational excellence, supply chain management, and sales and marketing excellence. Our synergies with the Adani Group companies are lowering input costs, which is boosting Ebitda growth. Furthermore, our blueprint of improvements through Group synergies and capex for efficiency and decarbonisation whilst creating opportunities, will redefine the cement industry landscape,” said Ajay Kapur, whole-time director and CEO, Ambuja Cements.
Ambuja Cements clocked sales volume (cement and clinker) of 9.1 million tonnes in Q1FY24 relative to 7.4 MT volumes YoY and 8.1 MT QoQ. On a standalone basis, sales volume were 15.4 MT during the quarter. Standalone PAT for the quarter under study came in at Rs 645 crore, while net revenue from operations was Rs 4,730 crore.
That said, according to a Reuters report, Ambuja Cements has reached a deal to acquire a majority stake in operations of Sanghi Industries. An official, the report said, is likely to be announced as soon as Wednesday.
“The deal was likely done by considering Sanghi’s enterprise value at Rs 6,000 crore ($729 million). Sanghi is one of the leading cement manufacturers from Gujarat state in western India. It has a production capacity of 6.1 million metric tonnes per annum,” the report said.
Adani is India’s second largest cement producer, behind UltraTech Cement. It owns Ambuja and its subsidiary ACC, which have a capacity to produce more than 65 million tonnes with more than a dozen manufacturing plants across India.