Ambuja Cements' Profit Slumps Over 30% To Rs 856.46 Crore In March Quarter

Ambuja Cements, part of Swiss building material major Holcim Group, on Thursday reported a 30.26 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit to Rs 856.46 crore for the first quarter ended March 2022 on account of rising fuel prices.

The company's share on the BSE was 0.7 per cent lower on Friday at Rs 381. 

The company, which follows the January-December financial year, had clocked a net profit of Rs 1,228.24 crore a year ago, Ambuja Cements said in a BSE filing.

However, its revenue from operations increased by 2.4 per cent to Rs 7,900.04 crore during the January-March quarter compared to Rs 7,714.81 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

"The January to March 2022 quarter was impacted by rising fuel prices due to which EBITDA during the quarter was lower by 19 per cent.

"This was partly mitigated by boosting efficiencies. Supported by the Master Supply Agreement with ACC, we further reduced our logistics costs," Holcim India MD and Ambuja Cements CEO Neeraj Akhoury said.

Ambuja Cements' total expenses surged 10.3 per cent to Rs 6,813.15 crore in Q1 of 2022 compared to Rs 6,176.76 crore in the year-ago period.

"On the cost, freight cost per ton declined 5 per cent year-on-year supported by logistics efficiencies. Despite this gain, total operating cost per ton rose by 15 per cent, due to increased fuel costs," Akhoury said.

The consolidated result of Ambuja Cements also includes the financial performance of its step-down firm ACC Ltd.

On a standalone basis, Ambuja Cements reported a decline of 25.49 per cent in its net profit to Rs 495.17 crore against Rs 664.57 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Its standalone revenue from operations rose 8.38 per cent to Rs 3,925.22 crore in the January-March quarter compared to Rs 3,621.39 crore a year ago.

Ambuja Cements' sales volume for cement and clinker in Q1 2022 was up 3.45 per cent at 7.49 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). It was 7.24 MTPA in the year-ago period.

Meanwhile, in a separate filing, Ambuja Cements informed that its board has appointed Mario Gross and Arun Kumar Anand as Non-Executive Non-Independent Directors of the company.

Gross would represent Holcim on the Board of the company, while Anand will represent LIC, which holds 6.30 per cent shares of the company as of March 2022.

Shares of Ambuja Cements Ltd on Thursday settled at Rs 383.55 on the BSE, down 0.31 per cent from the previous close.