Cement maker Dalmia Cement  posted its fiscal first quarter profit at Rs 144 crore, down 29.8 per cent as against Rs 205 crore during the corresponding quarter of last year, missing estimates. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 3,624 crore, up 9.8 per cent in comparison to Rs 3,302 crore during Q1FY23. According to a CNBC TV18 poll, Dalmia Bharat was expected to post Q1 profit at Rs 245 crore and revenue at Rs 3,680 crore. At the operating level, EBITDA increased 4.1 per cent to Rs 610 crore during the first quarter. While it posted a total income for the quarter in review at Rs 3,681 crore, total expenses for the company during the quarter was at Rs 3,496 crore

While lauding the strong demand environment for infrastructure and real estate, Puneet Dalmia, Managing Director & CEO, Dalmia Bharat Limited, said that the quarter has been a disappointment. “Though we have strong conviction in our ability to outperform the industry, this quarter has been a disappointment as against our expectations. Having said so, we remain focused on seizing the emerging demand opportunities, sustaining our position as a cost leader and delivering sustainable return to our stakeholders,” he said. 

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Dalmia Bharat posted a volume increase of 12.4 per cent on-year to 7.0 million T, while it added that the installed capacity increased to 41.7 MnTPA. Meanwhile, its renewable energy capacity also increased to 170 MW. The company also said that it is one of the lowest carbon footprint company in the global cement world, at 462 kgCO2/Ton of cement. 

“During the quarter gone by, we delivered a 12 per cent YoY growth in cement volumes and witnessed further softening of fuel prices. Given the promising outlook for cement demand, expectation of stable cement prices during the rest of the year and softening in commodity costs, we anticipate a gradual improvement in profitability,” said Mahendra Singhi, Managing Director and CEO, Dalmia Cement.

In terms of progress on capacity expansion, Dalmia Bharat has commenced commercial production at Bokaro Cement Manufacturing Works, Jharkhand (2.5 MnT). It has completed debottlenecking at Midnapore, West Bengal (0.6 MnT) which has increased the total plant capacity to 4.6 MnT. It has also commenced a trial run of Greenfield Split Grinding Unit at Sattur, Tamil Nadu (2.0 MnT).