ACC Ltd has reported a 14 per cent increase in revenue to INR45,370m (US$554.7m) in the quarter ended 31 December 2022, up from INR42,260m in the same period a year earlier. EBITDA over the same timeframe fell from INR6100m to INR4190m, while the EBITDA margin declined from 14.7 to 9.4 per cent.
Sales volumes over the three-month period stood at 7.7Mt of cement and clinker, on a par with the same quarter in 2021, while sales volumes of ready-mixed concrete advanced marginally from 0.73Mm3 to 0.79Mm3.
“Higher demand for cement due to a pick-up in construction activities and our relentless focus on operational excellence, reduction in fuel and logistics costs by leveraging on synergies with group’s adjacencies, improvement & expansion of our dealer network to serve nearest markets, helped us to clock a robust sequential growth in our top line and margins. With the rise in construction activities across our markets, we see the continuation of the elevated demand and strong volumes in the coming quarters as well,” said Ajay Kapur, director and CEO, ACC Ltd.
According to the company, kiln fuel costs fell over the quarter by 17.7 per cent from INR3.17 per ‘000 kCal to INR2.61 per ‘000 kCal due to “a change in the coal basket, group synergies on coal procurement, and higher Alternate Fuel and Raw Materials (AFR) factor,” said Mr Kapur. “During the quarter, AFR consumption volume increased by 33 per cent due to various debottlenecking initiatives and strong focus on cost optimisation. We successfully commissioned WHRS at Kymore & Jamul, while Ametha integrated unit expansion will be completed by Q2 of FY24.”
