Dalmia Bharat drops 5% as investors sell stock after profit drops 60% in Q2

Shares of cement firm Dalmia Bharat slipped up to 4.66 per cent at Rs 1,764.05 per share on the BSE in Monday’s intraday deals. The stock price dropped after the company reported a sluggish growth in the quarterly earnings for the second quarter of financial year 2024-25 (Q2FY25).

The leading cement manufacturer, reported a 60.5 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) decline in net profit, amounting to Rs 49 crore for the second quarter that ended on September 30, 2024. This is a significant drop from the Rs 124 crore net profit recorded in the same period of the previous fiscal.

The company’s revenue from operations fell by 2.1 per cent Y-o-Y, reaching Rs 3,087 crore compared to Rs 3,153 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. At the operating level, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) dropped 26.8 per cent to Rs 434 crore, down from Rs 593 crore in the same period last year. 

 

The Ebitda margin for the quarter stood at 14.1 per cent, a decrease from 18.8 per cent in the corresponding period last fiscal. 

Dalmia Bharat’s board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 4 (200 per cent) per equity share on 18,75,47,629 equity shares of Rs 2 each for the financial year 2024-25. The record date for determining shareholder entitlement for the interim dividend is set for Saturday, October 26, 2024.

The company also reported an 8.4 per cent year-on-year increase in cement volume for the second quarter, reaching 6.7 million tonnes (MnT). Ebitda per tonne stood at Rs 650. Additionally, Dalmia Bharat is continuing to advance its renewable energy initiatives, with renewable energy consumption rising to 39 per cent during the quarter.

Puneet Dalmia, managing director and CEO of Dalmia Bharat Ltd, expressed confidence in the future of the cement sector, stating, "I believe that as India grows, the cement sector, being a proxy, will continue to flourish." He further highlighted the company's expansion plans, noting, "We are actively working to announce our Phase II expansions within the next 9 months and achieve our interim milestone of 75 million tonnes (MnT) by FY28."

At 10:22 AM, the stock price of the company slipped 4.72 per cent at Rs 1,763 a piece on the BSE. By comparison, the BSE’s Sensex was trading flat at 81,214.85