Cement manufacturer Birla Corporation is targeting late single-digit growth in volume in FY26, according to its MD and CEO, Sandip Ghose.
The top executive is hopeful of registering a volume growth higher than the industry in the upcoming quarters of FY26, backed by enhanced production capacity from Q2 onwards.
“We would do that. We don't see any great headwinds in the market going forward. While you will not have a runaway demand, I think the market demand should stay healthy. And we would deliver at par or higher than the industry in terms of volumes. In terms of value share growth, we would be higher than the industry,” he said during a conversation with NDTV Profit on Friday.
He highlighted the “tailwinds” expected.
“We are going to have some capacity de-bottlenecking. We will have our third Kundanganj line coming forward by the third quarter. Our Mukutban plant has been ramping up well. And the western markets are looking up,” Ghose noted.
The balanced presence across northern, central, western and eastern India has helped it remain “region-agnostic” to some extent, shielding it from regional market fluctuations. Birla Corporation, the flagship company of MP Birla Group, is primarily engaged in cement and jute production.
Birla Corporation's focus on blended cement, which now accounts for 89% of its total sales, remains a cornerstone of its strategy. Ghose emphasised that the company is committed to serving the retail and individual homebuilder segment, avoiding heavy reliance on non-trade or infrastructure projects.
“We are a midsize player and our capacity utilisation is very high. It has traditionally been high. So we don't have the pressure. We are constantly trying to increase our value share through premiumisation,” he said.
This approach has allowed the company to maintain strong realisations without resorting to selling ordinary Portland cement (OPC) in large volumes.
Ghose highlighted the company's deep emotional connection with the jute business, which dates back to its founding in 1910 by GD Birla.
“I think jute has a great future. And we consider that it is also to some extent incumbent upon us to lead the change in the industry. And that's why we are providing far greater focus to jute than we had earlier,” the CEO added.
The company reported a multi-fold year-on-year (YoY) jump in net profit to Rs 120 crore in Q1FY26 from Rs 33 crore in Q1FY25. Revenue increased 12.6% YoY to Rs 2,486 crore in Q1FY26 from Rs 2,207 crore in the same period a year ago. Ebitda per tonne for the cement division increased 18.6% YoY to Rs 715 crore in Q1FY26 from Rs 603 crore in Q1FY25.
Shares of Birla Corporation ended 2.33% lower at Rs 1,320 apiece on the NSE on Friday, compared to the benchmark Nifty50 settling at 24,565.35, down 0.82%.
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