Ambuja Cement has been hitting a new 52-week high consistently from the 25^th 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 30^th June 2016 (31^st 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 30^th June 2016, reserve stands at Rs.10,401 crore and cash balance is at Rs.3117 crore. Equity is at Rs.310 crore.