Adani Cement-owned ACC's consolidated profit for the March quarter plunged by 68 per cent weighed down by higher costs during the quarter. This is even as the cement-maker's sales volume and revenue were at an alltime high during the quarter. ACC's bottomline for the quarter stood at INR2380m (US$25m), which compares to a profit of INR7510m in the year-ago period. Normalised for one-time gains and expenses, profit in the year-ago period stood at INR5420m.
ACC sold 11.9Mt of cement during the quarter, up eight per cent on YoY, while revenue jumped 17 per cent YoY to INR71,460m. The share of premium cement as a percentage of trade sales rose to 45 per cent from 41 per cent a year ago. Total expenses for the quarter surged nearly 23 per cent to INR68262.4m. This reflected in the company's profitability, with operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation falling to INR525/t from INR749 a year ago. Margin for the quarter also fell to 8.8 per cent from 13.6 per cent a year ago.
"Cost pressures from fuel, diesel, packaging bag supply constraints, and rupee depreciation impacted this quarter and impact expected to continue in 1HFY27," the company said in a statement. "The company is actively strengthening cost-mitigation measures through fuel mix optimisation, higher renewable energy usage, reducing logistics costs via rail and sea, and disciplined production and inventory management," it said. ACC announced its earnings after market hours on Thursday, and its shares closed at INR1422.65 on the BSE, down one per cent from the previous close. The company also said that the demand for FY27 is expected to remain soft at almost five per cent, factoring in early forecasts of a below normal monsoon, which could adversely impact agricultural output and housing demand, as well as ongoing West Asia conflicts leading to fuel price volatility.
