Cement maker Dalmia Bharat on Thursday reported an over six-fold increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 232 crore for the second quarter ended September 2020, helped by higher sales volume. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 36 crore during the July-September quarter a year ago, Dalmia Bharat said in a regulatory filing.
Its revenue from operations was up 7.78 per cent at Rs 2,410 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 2,236 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
Total expenses were at Rs 2,083 crore in the said quarter as against Rs 2,270 crore in the year-ago period, down 8.23 per cent.
Its sales volume was 4.80 million tonnes during the quarter, up 7.38 per cent, as against 4.47 million tonnes.
“The company achieved a volume growth of 7 per cent Y-o-Y on the back of demand from rural segment and pick-up in government’s infrastructure and low-cost housing projects. The eastern states continued to outperform with green-shoots of demand revival visible in south in the later part of the quarter,” the company said in a post earnings statement.
During the quarter, Dalmia Bharat witnessed a seasonal weakness of cement prices during the quarter, especially in eastern region, it added.
The company paid back all its debt during the quarter, leaving only Rs 87 lakh of net debt on its balanace sheet having retired Rs 246 crore.
During the reporting period, the company acquired Murli Industries and also finished the plant integration with installed capacity of 3 million tonnes and also commissioned the 3 million tonnes clinker line in Odisha, Mahendra Singhi, the chief executive and managing director, said.
Singhi said: “The strength of our company’s foundation is visible in overall improvement in the operating metrics during the quarter and the half year… We are completely geared up for a successful integration of the new capacity and ramping up its utilisation levels.”
He said the 7 per cent volume growth was led by demand from rural segment and a pick-up in government’s infrastructure and low cost housing projects.
Dalmia Bharat began cement manufacturing way back in 1939 and has at present an installed capacity of 27 million tonnes per annum, making it the fourth largest cement manufacturer in the country with 12 units across nine states.
Shares of Dalmia Bharat on Thursday settled at Rs 876.20 apiece on the BSE, up 5.55 per cent from the previous close.
