UltraTech Cement reported its quarterly financial results for the July to September period in which its profit declined over 42 percent compared to the same quarter last year to Rs 759 crore, the company said in an exchange filing on Wednesday.
However, the cement maker's profit slightly exceeded estimates of a CNBC-TV18 poll of analysts who had pegged the figure at Rs 727 crore for the September quarter.
UltraTech Cement's revenue too beat projections and came in at Rs 13,893 crore, up 15.6 percent from Rs 12,016 crore in the same quarter in the previous financial year. The topline is better than expected on the back of better realisations.
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Margin, meanwhile, declined 920 basis points year-on-year to 13.4 percent, pretty much in line with expectations, following an increase in the cost of raw materials including fly ash, slag and gypsum.
Analysts had expected margins to be impacted due to a combination of lower realisations and higher costs, led by higher variable costs per tonne. The cost spike is largely led by power-fuel cost due to a lag in consumption of high-cost inventory, they had said.
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The cement maker's domestic volumes grew 8.3 percent annually while the consolidated volumes rose 6.7 percent.
According to the earnings report, power and fuel costs went up 70 percent annually to Rs 4,296 crore during the quarter. However, average diesel prices slipped by 5 percent on a sequential basis.
UltraTech Cement's net debt increased to Rs 8,357 crore from Rs 5,561 crore in the previous quarter. The rise is primarily on account of increase in working capital and growth capex.
Following the Q2 result announcement, UltraTech Cement shares were trading 0.33 percent higher at Rs 6362.10 on BSE.
(Edited by : Abhishek Jha)