UltraTech Cement Ltd. reported a decline in consolidated net profit for Q2 FY25, with earnings at Rs 825 crore compared to Rs 1,280 crore in the same period last year. The company’s revenue also decreased by 2.4%, totaling Rs 15,635 crore, while EBITDA fell 20.8% to Rs 2,019 crore, resulting in a margin contraction from 15.9% to 12.9%.
Despite a challenging demand environment attributed to the monsoon season, UltraTech’s consolidated sales volume rose by 4% year-on-year to 27.84 million tonnes. However, this represented a significant 14% drop compared to the previous quarter. The domestic grey cement sales realization decreased by 8.4% year-on-year and 2.9% sequentially, averaging Rs 4,901 per million tonnes.
UltraTech reported that, although energy costs decreased by 14%, the EBITDA per unit declined by Rs 244 to Rs 732 per million tonnes. The company achieved a capacity utilization rate of 68% during this quarter, underscoring operational challenges.
As of October 2024, UltraTech’s total cement capacity reached 156.1 million tonnes, with ongoing expansion efforts on schedule. The company has already added 9.9 million tonnes in FY25 and aims to increase capacity by an additional 6.3 million tonnes.
Plans for FY26 and FY27 include adding 11.8 million tonnes and 14.7 million tonnes, respectively, bringing the total capacity to 188.9 million tonnes by March 2027. This figure does not account for potential acquisitions pending regulatory approvals. Following the earnings announcement, UltraTech’s shares fell by 2.7% but later stabilized at Rs 10,946, reflecting a 4.24% increase year-to-date and a 29.4% rise over the past year.
