UltraTech Cement posts 23% rise in net

CORPORATE SCORECARD

UltraTech Cement, the country's second largest cement company and a part of Aditya Birla Group, has posted a 23 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 259 crore for the quarter ended June 30 compared with Rs 210 crore in the previous corresponding quarter. Its net sales rose to Rs 1,365.27 crore against Rs 1,180 crore during the period, up 16 per cent.

Improved realisation, increased capacity utilisation, increased volumes and improved turnover from ready mix concrete (RMC) plants helped the company put up a good quarterly show.

The operating profit during the period was Rs 460 crore against last year's Rs 388 crore, up 18.5 per cent. Earning per share (EPS) stood at Rs 20.84 compared with Rs 16.94 in the previous corresponding quarter. The company sold 3.67 million tonnes in the June quarter against 3.48 million tonnes last year.

The company has earmarked around Rs 3,300 crore to be spent on its expansion projects in the next three years. Out of this, debt portion will contribute Rs 1,700 crore and the rest will come from internal accrual. Options like external commercial borrowings (ECBs) will be considered for the debt. Rs 1,000 crore of the debt will be raised by October this year and the rest Rs 700 crore will come in FY09, said K C Birla, chief financial officer of the company.

The company has planned to enhance the capacity at its Andhra Pradesh plant by another 0.9 million tonne to 4.9 million tonnes with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore. Earlier it was proposed to be 4 million tonne. "We have to maintain our market share," said Birla.