Vivid News 24: Ambuja Cements announced on February 7 that its standalone profit for the quarter ended in December FY23 increased by a staggering 46 percent year over year to Rs 369 crore, with a stable operating margin and increasing other income. This performance exceeded analysts’ forecasts on all fronts.
The standalone revenue from operations for the quarter climbed by 10.4% from the same period last year to a total of Rs 4,128.52 crore. Additionally, the company reported a 7 percent YoY increase in sales volumes for the quarter, coming in at 7.7 million tonnes, beating analysts’ expectations of 7.45 million tonnes.
“Due to a pick-up in demand throughout the quarter, the cement sector experienced higher production and capacity utilization. The company has maintained a solid top line and a dominant position in its key markets with a stronger Ambuja and ACC product range, according to CEO Ajay Kapur.
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In terms of operations, the cement producer increased EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) by almost 10% year over year to Rs 626 crore for the three months that ended in December FY23, with a marginal decline in the margin to 15.16% from 15.25% year over year in the same period.
An increase in input costs (30% YoY) and a rise in electricity and fuel prices (7.5%) at the Adani Group Company had an impact on operating margin performance for the quarter, despite a little decrease in freight and forwarding costs of 1%. Business actions are anticipated to further lower operating costs, lower clinker factor, lower logistics costs, increase sales of blended cement, and increase EBITDA margin, according to Kapur.
The business uses January through December as its fiscal year. Due to rising infrastructure activity and the Union Budget 2023’s strong emphasis on infrastructure spending, Ambuja Cements anticipates that cement demand will continue to climb in the upcoming quarters. In every respect, the numbers exceeded analysts’ predictions.
EBITDA was anticipated to be Rs 547 crore with a margin of 13.5 percent, and standalone profit was estimated to be Rs 300 crore on revenue of Rs 4,060 crore for the quarter, according to the average estimate of experts surveyed by CNBC-TV18. According to Kapur, the Ametha Integrated Unit will be operational by July 2023, increasing kiln capacity by 3.3 MTPA.
Due to allegations made by US-based short seller Hindenburg Research that the Adani Group had participated in stock manipulation and accounting fraud, the stock dropped 35% during the previous eight sessions. The stock increased 1.13 percent to settle at Rs 384 on February 7 on the NSE, continuing its four-session upswing.
The Adani Group members have denied the allegations, saying that the management of the Adani Group is considering appointing impartial agencies to look into the situation and the observance of pertinent laws and regulations, related to party transactions, internal controls, etc., to uphold the principles of good corporate governance.
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