 "Shree Cement")
Shree Cement on Wednesday announced its plans to enter the ready-mix concrete (RMC) business with a capex outlay of Rs 7,000 crore. It will set up plants across states such Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka in the current financial year, with a capacity totalling 12 million tonnes. UltraTech Cement and ACC are currently present in RMC space.
Its investment will funded by internal accruals and debt and take the group’s total capacity to 72.4 million tonnes.
The Kolkata-based firm also announced that its consolidated profit more than doubled to Rs 572.3 crore in the quarter ended June 31, 2023 (Q1FY24) from a year ago, riding on a higher revenue from operations and increase in other income.
“Shree Cement’s quarter performance confirms that our strategic intents are starting to deliver results,” said Neeraj Akhoury, managing director, Shree Cement. He said the firm will continue to focus on organic growth, sharpening operational efficiencies, and improving special product sales in the coming years.
The company’s cement sale volume in the quarter was up 19 per cent at 8.92 million tonnes.
Revenue from operations was up 15 per cent at Rs 5,064.8 crore in the quarter. Sequentially, the company’s revenue was down 1 per cent and net profit was up 9 per cent. The company’s reported net profit jumped 84 per cent to Rs 581.2 crore.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and ammortisation (Ebitda) was up 14 percent to Rs 933 crore. Other income was higher at Rs 169 .7 crore in the quarter, up from a negative other income a year ago.
Akhoury added that “The current macro-economic environment in the country combined with government focus is supporting growth for the cement sector. Accordingly, we are accelerating our growth plans to ensure that we seize the opportunity to the maximum.”
