Ambuja Cement builds stronger
Ambuja Cement has been hitting a new 52-week high consistently from the 25th of July. Today too, it hit a new high at Rs.278.35, with volumes jumping up over 2.5 times.
For second quarter ended 30th June 2016 (31st Dec year ending), the cement major posted a very smart 76% (YoY) jump in net profit at Rs.399 crore on a mere 2% rise in total income of Rs.2561 crore. Like UltraTech Cement and even ACC, this was thanks to very good operational efficiencies. And this explains why despite a 2% drop in sales volume at 5.76 mtpa, it ended the quarter on such a high note.
A 5% (YoY) drop in raw material costs, 20% decrease in power & fuel cost, 8% fall in freight and forwarding costs and overall 7% drop in total costs led to an increase in the bottomline. EBITDA for the quarter was up 57% at Rs.601 crore while margins improved to a very good 23.5% from 15.3%.
The best part – its net profit for H1CY16 stands at Rs.703 crore and this is already 87% of entire CY15 net profit of Rs.807 crore; with two more quarters to go, surely it is headed to end CY16 on a bumper note. Q3 might not be as trailblazing as Q2 as monsoon months, cement demand is low due to slowdown in construction activities.
As at 30th June 2016, reserve stands at Rs.10,401 crore and cash balance is at Rs.3117 crore. Equity is at Rs.310 crore.