Cement maker ACC Ltd on April 19 reported a 29.5% decline
in consolidated net profit to Rs 396.33 crore for the first quarter ended March
2022, compared to a profit of Rs 562.59 crore a year-ago period. It reported a
41% increase in consolidated net profit on a sequential basis from Rs 281 crore
in the previous quarter.

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The company, which follows the January-December financial
year, posted the total revenue from operations during the January-March quarter
at Rs 4,426.54 crore, up 3.13% from Rs 4,291.97 crore in the year-ago period.
Sequentially, it grew 5% from Rs 4,226 crore in the December 2021 quarter.

ACC Ltd is a subsidiary of Swiss building material major
Holcim group (Earlier LafargeHolcim). “The January to March 2022 quarter
was impacted due to the global rise in fuel costs driven by the overall
geopolitical situation,” said Managing Director and CEO Sridhar Balakrishnan.

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Its efficiency and cost reduction actions remained strong
and helped the company to “partially offset” the impact, he added.

During the quarter, ACC’s revenue from cement was Rs
4,102.24 crore and Rs 395.60 crore from ready mix concrete.

Cement sales volume for the quarter slipped 3.26% to 7.71
million tonnes (MT) compared to 7.97 MT in the corresponding quarter of 2021.

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Its total expenses surged 10.32% to Rs 3,956.37 crore in
Q1 of 2022 from Rs 3,586.19 crore a year ago.

At the operating level, EBITDA declined 26.2% to Rs 634.6
crore in the reported quarter over Rs 860 crore in the year-ago period. EBITDA
margin stood at 14.34% in Q1 FY23 as compared to 21.5% a year ago. EBITDA is
earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization.

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“Strict cost control measures enabled a reduction in
fixed cost vs previous year,” ACC said in a BSE filing.

Over the outlook, Balakrishnan said the demand situation
is expected to further improve in the coming months.

“We are confident that the demand situation will
further improve in the coming months, supported by an improving domestic
economic environment and various initiatives from the Government in terms of
increased spending on infrastructure development,” he said.

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While sharing updates on COVID-19, ACC said strict
adherence to government guidelines and Covid appropriate behaviour is ensured
across our locations.

Shares of ACC Ltd on Tuesday settled at Rs 2,057.90 on
the BSE, down 4.44% from the previous close.