India: JK Lakshmi Cement 3Q profits zoom

JK Lakshmi Cement posted a net profit of INR492.4m (US$9.99m) for the quarter ended 31 December 2011 as compared to net profit of INR46m  (US$0.9m) for the same period last year, representing steep rise of 10.7 times.

The company’s total income rose from INR3153.3m for the quarter ended 31 December 2010 to INR4388.1m for the quarter ended 31 December 2011, an increase of 39.15%.

JK Lakshmi attributed the rise in profitability to a nearly 13% increase in its sales volume. The company’s capacity utilisation reached 99% during the quarter, which compared favourably with other cement producers. There was an improvement in the efficiency, especially the power efficiency, as well as in the cost of self-generating power on account of stabilisation in its waste heat recovery project.

The company said: “The cement prices were also better in the current quarter compared to the previous quarter consequent to revival of cement demand growth in the company’s primary markets of the north and Gujarat. The company’s expansion plans continue to make satisfactory progress with its grinding unit in Haryana scheduled to commence production by March 2012, which is as per schedule. The work on its greenfield project at Durg is also progress satisfactorily.”