UltraTech consolidated net profit surges 47% to Rs 2,620 crore in Q4

UltraTech Cement, the Aditya Birla Group’s cement flagship, has posted a 47.60% rise in consolidated net profit of Rs 2,620 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, following an improvement in demand and tax credit. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 1,775 crore for the same quarter of last fiscal.

A consensus estimate of Bloomberg analysts was expecting the firm to post a net profit of Rs 1,505 crore.

After a slow start to the quarter, demand improved month-on-month, driven by improvement in the government’s execution of various projects, the company said in a statement on Friday. During the quarter under review, the firm’s consolidated net sales rose to Rs 15,557 crore from Rs 14,232 crore recorded during the same period a year ago. However, profit before interest, depreciation and tax fell to Rs 3,165 crore from Rs 3,751 crore, the company said.

Pursuant to completion of prior year income-tax assessments, UltraTech has reversed accumulated provision for tax of Rs 323.35 crore for the three months ended December 31, 2021, and Rs 303.92 crore for the year ended March 31, 2022. It accrued Minimum Alternate Tax credit entitlement of Rs 211.86 crore for the three months ended December 31, 2021, and Rs 1,213.94 crore for the year ended March 31, 2022, it said.

The company saw energy costs rise 48%, with prices of pet-coke and coal doubling during the period. Raw material prices rose 7% on increased costs of fly ash, bauxite, gypsum and high-speed diesel costs. With the increase in fuel and diesel prices, input cost inflation remains a concern, it said.

UltraTech’s capacity utilisation stood at 90% during the quarter.

The company’s board recommended a dividend of 380% at Rs 38 per share, totalling to Rs 1,096.95 crore.

For the fiscal ended March 31, the company’s consolidated net profit rose to Rs 7,344 crore from Rs 5,463 crore, on net sales of Rs 51,708 crore (up from Rs 44,239 crore).

The company added 42 MW of waste heat recovery system (WHRS) capacity during the year. This takes its total WHRS capacity to 167 MW, covering nearly 16% of its current power needs. It is expected to further increase to 280 MW by the end of FY23.