India Cements sees rise in profit for the 2QFY20-21

India Cements has reported a rise in profit to INR714.3m (US$9.63m) for the second quarter of the FY20-21, compared to INR87.2m in the year-ago period. However, the company’s revenue declined 14 per cent YoY to INR10.69bn from INR12.46m.

With the backdrop of a decline in demand, the overall sales volumes of clinker and cement decreased to 2.107Mt against 2.667Mt in the same quarter of the previous year.

Despite this, EBIDTA surged 60 per cent YoY to INR2.4bn from INR1.5bn in the 2QFY19-20.

"Now after a good monsoon and with people having learnt to cope with Covid-19 and with decreased pandemic activity, we see revival in western India also which can lead to improved demand in the two quarters to come," said N Srinivasan, vice chairman, India Cements.

The company's capacity utilisation in the first quarter was at 35 per cent and improved to 53 per cent in the 2Q. For the first half of the fiscal it was at 43 per cent.