JK Lakshmi sees 13% rise in net profit

India’s JK Lakshmi Cement posted a 12.9 per cent increase in net profit to INR446.4m (US$5.96m) for the 1QFY20-21, compared with INR395.4m last year. However, it noted that sales volumes were severely impacted by lockdown restrictions.

Sales saw a 21 per cent decline to INR8.25bn from INR10.42bn in the 1QFY19-20. EBITDA was also down 14 per cent YoY to INR1.52bn.

The company noted the importance of cost savings in improving its operating margins. "To reduce the power cost, the company is enhancing further its WHR power capacity by 10MW which is likely to be commissioned in the first half of FY21-22," said Shailendra Chouksey, director of the company.