India Cements posts net loss of Rs 10.6 cr in Q4FY22, revenue dips 4%

Chennai-based cement major India Cements posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 10.6 crore for Q4FY22, as compared to a net profit of Rs 50.2 crore during the same period last year owing to spiralling input costs and a loss of volume.

The company's revenue from operations too, saw a marginal dip of 4 per cent during the quarter at Rs 1417.6 crore, as compared to Rs 1472.5 crore during the Q4FY21. The company’s net profit for Q4FY22 was seen down 62 per cent at Rs 78.5 crore as compared to Rs 206.8 crore in Q4FY21.

The company performed sub-optimally during the quarter with a cement volume of 26.29 lakh tonnes as compared to 26.66 lakh tonnes in January to March 2021 and the clinker volume of only 0.38 lakh tonnes as compared to 3.24 lakh tonnes in the previous year. The overall volume was at 26.57 lakh tonnes, a drop of 11 per cent as compared to 29.90 lakh tonnes in the previous year. For the year ended  March 2022, the overall volume was at 90.70 lakh tonnes as compared to 89.02 lakh tonnes in the previous year, an increase of only 2 per cent.

 

“The spiralling prices of fuel along with the shortage in availability of the same affected the margins of the industry. The woes of the industry worsened further with the outbreak of Russia's war with Ukraine resulting in sanctions being imposed on Russia and its exports fuelling further shortage of coal and oil in the market,” the company said in a statement. It added that while prices of diesel have shot up by more than 20 per cent during the year, the prices of coal, be it thermal coal or petcoke, skyrocketed and have more than doubled during the year.

Coal prices also increased from $60 per tonne to $300 per tonne during the last one year adding to the pressure on the company. “We are planning to go for three rounds of price hikes – Rs 20 on June 1, Rs 15 on June 15 and Rs 20 on July 1 to reduce the pressure,” said N Srinivasan, Managing Director of the company. India Cements has also set up an internal team to monetise its land assets for repayment of its debt.