India Cements posts Rs 113-crore net loss in Q2

India Cements posted a net loss of Rs 113 crore for the quarter ended September 2022. The cement company had a net profit of Rs 30 crore in the year-ago period.

The company said its performance was impacted due to spiralling increase in the price of input materials, resulting in higher cost which could not be compensated in the market due to huge supply overhang.

However, the Chennai-headquartered firm's revenue from operations was up 7 per cent to Rs 1,327 crore in the September quarter, from Rs 1,235 crore a year ago.

"The performance during the quarter was significantly impacted due to spiralling increase in the price of input materials resulting in higher cost which could not be compensated in the market due to huge supply overhang. This was compounded by the loss of volume as some of the markets were not commercially viable due to high cost of production. All these factors adversely affected the profitability with the company recording the largest loss in a quarter," the company said in a statement.

The company said the overall volume of clinker and cement for the company was at 2.254 million tonne for the second quarter, against 2.36 mt in the previous year. The company said that with a lower capacity utilisation of around 60 per cent along with uncompensated cost increase, impact on the bottom line was severe.

The company's total expenses rose by 27 per cent to Rs 1,528 crore as against Rs 1,202 crore last year. "The cost per kcal of fuel went up from around Rs 1.60 per kcal in the same quarter of the previous year to as high as Rs 3.26 per kcal and the average rate of power moved up by more than Rs 2 per unit resulting in increase in the cost of production by more than Rs 1,300 per tonne during the quarter," it added.

( With inputs from ANI )