UltraTech Q1-FY'11 PAT rises 22 per cent to Rs683 crore

Aditya Birla Group Company UltraTech Cement Limited today reported a 22.4 per cent year-on-year increase in its fiscal first quarter after-tax profit (PAT) at Rs683 crore, against Rs558 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. 

The results for Q1-FY'11 have been recasted to include Samruddhi Cement Limited's performance for a like-for-like comparison, the company said in a release, adding that the results are strictly not comparable with the corresponding period of the previous year.

Net sales of the company during the April-June 2011 quarter stood at Rs4,365 crore against Rs3,990 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. Profit before interest, depreciation and tax stood at Rs1,254 crore against Rs1,086 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. 

Combined domestic cement and clinker sales of grey cement was lower at 9.46 million tonnes against 9.61 million tonnes in the similar quarter of the previous year. sale of white cement stood at 1.95 lakh tonnes during the quarter against 1.94 lakh tonnes in the similar quarter the previous year. 

The company said a 30 per cent increase in coal prices had adversely impacted domestic business. Alongside, imported coal prices also rose 30 per cent, resulting in a substantial escalation in costs. 
 
The company has a capital outlay of over Rs11,000 crore to be spent over the next three years. The investment would cover a number of projects, including clinkerisation plants through brownfield expansion at Chhattisgarh and Karnataka together with additional grinding units; installing waste-heat recovery systems; instituting bulk packaging terminals and setting up of ready-mix concrete plants.

Orders have been placed for major equipment for setting up of the projects. These expansions are expected to be operational by Q1-FY14 and will enhance the company's cement capacity by 9.2 mtpa, a company release said.