Initially called Gujarat Ambuja Cements, global cement major Holcim acquired management control of ACL in 2006 and it holds 50.67% stake as at end of 30th Sept 2012. The third largest cement maker in the country, it has a cement capacity of 27.4 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) and this is around 8% of total industry capacity and yet, it enjoys a reputation of being one of the most efficient cement manufacturers in the world. It is the first Indian cement manufacturer to build a captive port with three terminals along the country’s western coastline to facilitate timely, cost effective shipments of bulk cement to its customers and it has its own fleet of ships. 

Cement is on the sharp bounce back and as the dispatch figures over the past few months have been showing, demand is slowly but surely picking up. But more than volumes, today cement companies have much better realisations and for Ambuja, YoY it was up 20% for the third quarter ended 30th Sept 2012. For CYQ312, Ambuja’s cement sale volumes remained largely flat though this can be attributed to the extended monsoon but net sales rose 20% at Rs.2168 crore.  Operating efficiencies helped the company post an absolute EBITDA rise of 72% and net profit rose by a smart 77% at Rs.304 crore.  The fourth quarter is usually good and the company seems all set to end CY12 with a higher net sales as 9MCY12 at Rs.7370 crore is sure to surpass that of 12MCY11 of Rs.8534 crore. Net profit was at Rs.1085 crore which is sure to be much higher than that of Rs.1229 crore for CY11.  There is fear of a glut in the sector due to over capacity build up but this fear currently seems unfounded as there have been delays in project implementations and once industry activity builds up, demand is expected to accelerate further. Looks like the worst is over for the sector and good times are set to roll.