The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
NEW DELHI, NOV 2, 2022
Cement maker Dalmia Bharat Ltd on Wednesday reported a 15.11 per cent increase in its revenue from operations to Rs 2,971 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal (Q2FY23) as compared to Rs 2,581 crore in the year-ago period.
Dalmia Bharat’s total expenses rose nearly 29 per cent to Rs 2,980 crore in the latest quarter under review.
Sales volume increased 13.72 per cent in the September quarter to 5.8 Million Tonnes (MT) compared to the year-ago period.
However, the company witnessed a 76.84 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 47 crore for the quarter ended September. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 203 crore during the July-September quarter a year ago, Dalmia Bharat said in a regulatory filing.
Commenting on the quarter gone by, Dalmia Bharat Limited Managing Director & CEO Puneet Dalmia said, “Despite a steep inflationary environment, we are pleased with our performance during the first half of this year and we believe that for the industry, the worst is behind.” “Driven by revival in housing and the government’s continual push for infrastructure, we expect cement demand to be robust. Looking ahead, we remain focused on further progressing on our capacity expansion plan along with providing top-tier returns for our stakeholders,” he added.
Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Managing Director and CEO Mahendra Singhi said, “Despite a seasonally weak quarter, we are encouraged with recent momentum in prices and volumes.” ”Our past investments in strengthening our operational efficiencies and cost rationalisations have enabled us to maintain our low-cost leadership,” he added.
Meanwhile, the company has declared an interim dividend of 200 per cent, which is Rs 4 per equity share.
“We expect profitability to significantly improve for the rest of the year as the benefits of correction in fuel prices will start getting reflected in the current quarter,” Singhi said, adding that “Dalmia Bharat will meet its commitment of capacity expansion while delivering sustainable earnings growth.”
