Cement maker ACC today reported an 8.67 per cent dip in consolidated net profit to Rs 400 crore during the January-March quarter on higher input costs and lower realisations.
ACC, which follows a January-December accounting year, had clocked a profit of Rs 438 crore in the corresponding quarter a year earlier, it said in a statement.
"Our manufacturing costs faced escalations in the cost of our major inputs -- namely, coal, fly ash and gypsum," ACC said.
Profit included a tax write-back of Rs 113 crore on conclusion of earlier years' assessments. It was higher at Rs 141 crore in the same quarter of the previous year, ACC said.
Sales volumes remained almost static at 6.48 million tonnes, while turnover rose marginally to Rs 2,967 crore in the quarter compared with Rs 2,906 crore a year earlier.
"In the first quarter, the industry did not experience any significant improvement in the pace of infrastructure development and general construction. With no uptrend in the demand for cement, sales volume was at about the same level as in the corresponding period of previous year," ACC said.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for the quarter were Rs 425 crore as against Rs 492 crore in the first quarter of 2013.
"On the positive side, we continued to derive benefit from our ongoing cost leadership efforts and increased sales volume of premium products," it said.
ACC does not "foresee any significant improvement in the cement market in the near term" but said it would continue to drive cost leadership and customer excellence programmes to enhance sales realisations and improve margins.
