C K Birla Group firm Orient Cement on Friday reported 29 per cent fall in net profit at Rs 44.06 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2020, due to lockdown.
It had posted a net profit of Rs 61.98 crore in January-March a year ago, Orient Cement said in a BSE filing.
Revenue from operation was down 12.82 per cent toRs 654.52 crore in the latest quarter as against Rs 750.81 crore in the corresponding period of 2018-19.
The operations of the company were impacted in the month of March 2020 due to temporary shutdown of all plants following nationwide lockdown announced by the Government of India because of COVID-19 outbreak. The management is monitoring the situation closely and has started operating its plants in a phased manner from the last week of April, Orient Cement said.
Total expenses were at Rs 592.22 crore as against Rs 661.11 crore, down 10.42 per cent.
However, in 2019-20, Orient Cement's net profit was up 82.08 per cent to Rs 86.58 crore. It was Rs 47.55 crore in the previous year.
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Revenue from operations in the last financial year was Rs 2,421.79 crore, down 3.97 per cent from Rs 2,522.16 crore in 2018-19.
The management has made an initial assessment... of the likely impact of the lockdown on overall economic environment and cement industry, in particular, based on which it expects the cement demand to stabilise in due course, as driven by measures expected to be taken by the Government; and further, does not anticipate any challenge in the Company's ability to continue as a going concern or meeting its financial obligations, it said.
In a separate filing, the company said its board has recommended a final dividend of 75 per cent, which is Rs 0.75per equity share of Re 1 each for 2019-20.
Shares of Orient Cement on Friday settled at Rs 39.85 apiece on BSE, down 0.13 per cent from the previous close.