Cement maker Birla Corporation, the M P Birla Group flagship, on Tuesday reported a 71.42 per cent year-on-year fall in its consolidated net profit to ₹31.19 crore for the third quarter this fiscal, as the company’s realisation from cement sales was down due to lower prices.
The Kolkata-based company’s net profit stood at ₹109.14 crore for the third quarter last fiscal. The company witnessed a revenue de-growth of 2.33 per cent year-on-year at ₹2,256.65 crore for Q3FY25 compared to ₹2,310.44 crore for Q3FY24, according to a stock exchange filing.
The company, in a statement, said its consolidated cement sales by volume in the third quarter rose 7 per cent to 4.5 million tonnes (mt) versus 4.2 mt in the same period a year ago, which represented a capacity utilisation of 92 per cent
“Still, the company’s realisation from cement sales during the December quarter at ₹4,781 per tonne was 9.5 per cent lower than last year because of lower prices in Maharashtra and central India. Nevertheless, it represents a sequential growth of 1.8 per cent (₹4,697 per tonne in the September quarter). Prices have started to firm up and improved realisation is expected to support healthy growth in the quarters ahead,” the company said.
sales of premium cement
According to the company, despite sluggish demand, it managed to raise the share of sales of its high-yielding premium cement to 59 per cent for the third quarter of FY25 against 52 per cent in the corresponding period of FY24. This represented a year-on-year growth of 19 per cent in sales of premium products by volume to 1.8 mt, led by the company’s flagship brand Perfect Plus, which registered a 23 per cent year-on-year growth in sales by volume.
The Cement Division’s EBITDA per tonne for Q3FY25 at ₹569 represented a sequential growth of 23.4 per cent q-o-q while being down by 37 per cent y-o-y. The division’s operating profit margin for the quarter was at 12 per cent against 17 per cent a year ago.
