Birla Corporation Limited reported its fiscal first quarter profit at Rs 59.71 crore, down 3.6 per cent as against Rs 61.92 crore during the corresponding quarter of FY23 due to higher depreciation and interest cost. “Cash profit was up 6.5 per cent year-on-year at Rs 217 crore, largely on account of improved sales and a substantial decline in power and fuel costs,” the company said. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 2408.46 crore, up 9.3 per cent in comparison to Rs 2203.76 crore during the first quarter of financial year 2022-23. The company posted a revenue rise as cement sales by volume jumped 12.2 per cent over the same period last year to 4.41 million tonnes.
The company EBITDA stood at Rs 297.7 crore, up 14.8 per cent on-year despite subdued cement prices in core markets. While the total income during the quarter was at Rs 2424.63 crore, the total expenses during Q1FY24 stood at Rs 2348.35 crore.
Birla Corporation’s Q1 performance across business verticals
Birla Corporation’s cement business posted a revenue of Rs 2,306.12 crore, while its jute segment recorded a revenue of Rs 102.12 crore. Birla Corporation achieved a capacity utilization of 91 per cent during the quarter. Its subsidiary RCCPL Pvt Ltd continues to ramp up production at its 3.9 million ton-Mukutban plant, which was commissioned a year ago. “With the commissioning of the Mukutban plant, Birla Corporation has created strategic synergy among its plants due to their geographical locations. The Mukutban unit has created opportunities to enter new markets, and together with the synergies that are to be realised in the days ahead, the company expects its profitability to improve substantially,” it said in a regulatory filing.
The company said that the demand for cement was ‘robust’, except in June (due to unseasonal rainfall and floods in some core markets), however the prices remained soft. This impacted core markets, and the realisation per tonne for the June quarter was 2.4 per cent lower than the same period last year at Rs 5183. Power and fuel costs, which were abnormally high in the last financial year, have started to ease. Power and fuel costs per ton for cement production for the June quarter fell 19 per cent on-year and is expected to moderate further in the coming months.
The company has also been shoring up its renewable energy consumption, the share of which in total power consumption was at 23.1 per cent for the quarter ended June 2023. During the quarter in review, the company also commissioned a 5-MW solar power plant at Satna, taking the total solar power capacity to 41.2 MW. Further, the company’s focus on premium products has resulted in a 25 per cent growth in sales by volume over the same period last year.
Going forward, Birla Corporation said that approaching the tail-end of the monsoon, the company does not expect any significant downslide in prices in the wake of sustained government spending on infrastructure and on schemes such as Pradham Mantri Awas Yojana. “Going forward, the company will maintain its relentless thrust on cost rationalisation, shoring up sales of premium products in high realisation geographies, route-to-market optimisation and increasing leadership bench strength and depth.