ICL continues to ‘encash’ on demand uptick in most regions

Chennai

The company had posted a net loss of Rs 8.79 crore during the October-December quarter of the previous fiscal, it said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

Its revenue from operations was down 4.79 per cent to Rs 1,184.68 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 1,244.28 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

The India Cements’ total expenses stood at Rs 1,093.05 crore in Q3/FY 2020-21, down 13.6 per cent as against Rs 1,265.13 crore. N Srinivasan, VC-MD, India Cements, said the company is seeing a steady increase in capacity utilisation.

While hoping that the trend will continue, he sought to explain that the prices were not locked to increase marginal volumes as the focus was on realisation.

With demand in the north and central India “flying off,” he said the double-digit demand in east, was also a reason to feel upbeat about the industry. Despite the capacity overhang in south, the company has managed to hold on to its pricing as the value of sales was collected in the same month itself.

This had helped India Cement also manage to trim down its net debts. Of the total debt of Rs 3,500 cr, the cement major has managed to bring its term debt, working capital and interest costs to Rs 3,200 cr, Srinivasan said, dwelling on a slew of measures to tackle the business challenges in the face of the pandemic.

To a query on an investor continuing to buy shares in the company, he said, he would refrain from commenting on “people who invest in India Cements,” as a policy decision. On capital expenditure, Srinivasan said the ongoing modernisation plans would continue. The plan to set up a plant in Madhya Pradesh would be delayed due to the impact of the pandemic.