The board of Gujarat Ambuja, which met here on Monday, has approved buyback of shares of the company up to 10 per cent of the paid-up capital. The company will buyback shares worth Rs 50 crore at a maximum share price of Rs 170 per share through the open market route, it said.
Gujarat Ambuja Cements has clocked a 112 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 53.23 crore during the first quarter of the financial year 2001-02 against Rs 25.06 crore in the same period last year.
Improved price realisation saw its turnover rise 17.2 per cent, on a 13.8 per cent increase in volume of sales to Rs 340.08 crore from Rs 290.26 crore.
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During the July-September quarter, the company sold 14.58 lakh tonne of cement compared with 12.81 lakh tonne in the first quarter of previous fiscal.
On account of high productivity, lower cost of production and better cement realisation, the operating margin during the quarter has escalated to 38.2 per cent from 35.2 per cent.
Registering a 30 per cent increase, the operating profit of Gujarat Ambuja has shot up to Rs 114.43 crore from Rs 88.51 crore. Interest expenses have come down drastically to Rs 24.67 crore against Rs 32.22 crore in the first quarter of last year due to prepayment of high interest loans.
A press release here said that the company is expecting a healthy second half during the current fiscal as the growth in cement demand will be good. After a sluggish growth in cement demand from April to July, the pace has picked up from August and cement demand in August and September has grown by 15 per cent.