Diversified CK Birla group firm Orient Cement today reported a 20 per cent fall in net profit at Rs 27.89 crore for the June quarter on account of lesser realisation in cement prices due to a dip in demand.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 34.87 crore in the year-ago period.
Total income of the firm fell by 8.69 per cent to Rs 394.39 crore in the first quarter as against Rs 382.65 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2013-14.
Total expenses during the quarter stood at Rs 301.34 crore as against Rs 327.36 crore.
"Q1FY16 has been a difficult quarter for the industry, with markets in west and north struggling to register any demand momentum. Low demand and low capacity utilisation has put further pressure on the prices. We lost 10 per cent of our volumes," Orient Cements Managing Director and CEO Deepak Khetrapal told PTI.
He said, "We continue to focus on cost optimisation and increasing our efficiency in power and fuel consumption."
Khetarpal said the Karnataka government has granted the company "the mining lease on July 31 for our upcoming Greenfield facility in Gulbarga, which is scheduled for commissioning within the next 4-6 weeks."
As part of the growth plan to reach 15 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) by year 2020, Orient Cement setting up a capacity of three MTPA at Chittapur, in Gulbarga at an investment of about Rs 2,000 crore.
On outlook, Khetarpal said cement demand has been very sluggish across the country and there would not be much improvement in July-September quarter.
"... Post-Diwali, the construction is expected to pick up and the things would start looking up," he said.
The shares of the company closed at Rs 183.25 apiece, down 0.46 per cent on BSE.
