Despite higher sales, Shree Cement's profit fell 15 percent to Rs.546 crore

Shree Cement Ltd. on Friday reported a 15 per cent year-on-year (YoY) drop in net profit at Rs 546 crore for the March quarter compared with Rs 645 crore in the same quarter last year.

Sales for the quarter rose 17 per cent YoY to Rs 4,785 crore compared with Rs 4,099 crore in the same quarter last year.

Total sale volume increased 10 per cent sequentially to 8.83 million tonnes in the March quarter compared with 8.03 million tonnes in the same quarter. Proportion of premium products sale against total trade cement sale stood at 7.5 per cent in the March quarter against 7.2 per cent in the December quarter.

Shree Cement said it has been actively working on achieving its goal of beyond 80 million tonnes capacity. It said the commissioning of Purulia grinding unit with capacity of 3 mpta is scheduled by end of Q1FY24; Nawalgarh project with 3.50 mtpa capacity is progressing on schedule and that the company expects the commissioning to be achieved by end of Q3FY24. Shree Cement said it is also progressing strongly on project in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, which should be commissioned early next financial year.

Managing Director Neeraj Akhoury at Shree Cement said: “Shree Cement has delivered a robust set of revenue & Ebitda growth while strongly pursuing our journey to remain the greenest cement company with world class performance indicators. We are driving prioritised initiatives to increase green power, usage of alternative fuels, process automations combined with advanced digitalisation of the operations to deliver superior performance."

The improved performance during this quarter is testimony of such initiatives amidst the challenge of managing high fuel costs, Akhoury said.

"Our resolve to step up actions on strengthening brand equity is under execution and we are confident to deliver volume growth with focus on premium cement creating enhanced value for our customers.”

Akhoury added: “we continue to execute sharp action plans to reach beyond 80 million tonnes cement capacity in the coming years. Our growth plan will add significant value to our business and provide opportunities for all our stakeholders.

Given the government’s focus on infrastructure growth in the Union Budget 2023-24 through higher allocation for road construction projects, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), ever highest capital investment outlay, and other overall buoyancy in the economy, cement sector is likely to continue robust growth in coming year as well, the company said.

The board of directors did not recommend any final dividend for FY23. The cement maker declared a second interim dividend of Rs 55 per share for FY23. Earlier in the year, the board had declared an interim dividend of Rs 45 per share. Total dividend for the year worked out to Rs 100 per share compared with a total dividend of Rs 90 per share in the year.