Prism Cement has posted a 50.4 per cent YoY rise in EBITDA for the 2Q17 period ended 30 September 2017 to INR376m (US$5.78m). The resulting EBITDA margin for the second quarter was 3.2 per cent. The company’s revenue fell 7.7 per cent on a comparable basis to INR11.6bn 2Q17 from INR12.62bn in 2Q16.

The first six months of the current financial year has seen Prism report EBITDA of INR1.14bn. In comparison to the same period of the previous year, this is a minor decrease of 5.3 per cent. Similarly 1H17 revenue  has fallen 2.6 per cent YoY, to INR25.96bn from INR26.66bn.

The volume of cement sold during the second quarter of 2017 totalled 1.12Mt. The sand mining ban in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar has been held accountable for the 3.4 per cent YoY drop in sales volumes for this quarter.

The outlook for the rest of the year is positive, according to Emkay Research. Prism Cement’s total revenue for the current financial year is expected to reach INR56.4bn, an increase of INR2.2bn on the final result of the previous year. Likewise, the company’s EBITDA is forecast to advance by INR72m on the INR2.8bn seen at the completion of the last financial year.