Ultratech Cement on Monday reported a 38.43 per cent dip in net profit for the October-December quarter at Rs. 370 crore due to subdued selling price of building material amidst poor demands.
The Aditya Birla Group’s flagship firm had clocked Rs. 601 crore net profit in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal, it said in a release.
“The results for the quarter have been impacted mainly on account of lower selling prices due to the subdued demand. However, on-going cost optimisation measures have helped in containing costs despite the continuing increase in input and logistics costs,” it said.
Ultratech Cement’s net sales also marginally declined to Rs. 4,786 crore during the quarter from Rs. 4,857 crore a year earlier.
The company’s combined sales of cement, clinker, white cement and wall care putty during the three-month period stood at 9.7 million tonnes.
Total expenses increased to Rs. 4,267 crore from Rs. 4,072 crore a year ago. Freight costs rose to Rs. 1,119 crore against Rs. 1,059 crore. Finance costs also went up to Rs. 90 crore from Rs. 52 crore.
“The outlook continues to remain challenging. Demand growth in the long-term is likely to be around 8 per cent. The key demand drivers will continue to be housing and infrastructure spends,” it added.
