Profit before tax fell 27.06% to Rs 1,102.68 crore in first quarter of FY25 from Rs 1,511.66 crore reported in Q1 FY24.

Ambuja Cements’ sales volume (cement and clinker) stood at 15.8 million tons during the quarter, up 2.6% YoY from 15.4 million tons reported in the corresponding quarter last year.

For Q1, operating EBITDA slipped 23.22% to Rs 1,280 crore from Rs 1,667 crore posted in Q1 FY24. EBITDA margin reduced to 15.4% as against 19.1% recorded in the similar quarter previous fiscal.

EBITDA PMT fell 25.41% to Rs 807 in June 2024 quaretr as against Rs 1,082 crore recorded in Q1 same quarter previous year.

Net worth increased by Rs 8,620 crore during quarter and stood at Rs 59,465 crore, the company stated that it remained debt free & continued to maintain Crisil AAA (stable) / Crisil A1+ ratings.

The cash & cash equivalent stood at Rs 18,299 crore, enables to accelerated growth in future.

The cement maker said that the higher volume along with improved operational parameters resulted in growth in all business parameters.

On standalone basis, the company’s net profit fell 11.51% to Rs 570.65 crore on 4.52% decrease in revenue from operations to Rs 4,515.79 crore in Q1 FY24 over Q1 FY25.

Ajay Kapur, whole time director & CEO, Ambuja Cements, said, “Our persistent performance sets the tone for the rest of the financial year, as we expand our footprint and capacities across new geographies. Our continued improvement on cost brings visibility of achieving the targeted cost reduction of Rs 530 PMT by FY28. With Penna transaction expected to be closed by Q2 FY25, our capacity will go to 89 MTPA and well on track to achieve our 140 MTPA plan by FY28.”

On its outlook, Ambuja Cements said, “Cement demand during FY24 stood higher by 7-8% YoY at 422 MTPA and are likely to grow by 7-9 % in FY25 to around 451 MTPA driven by strong correlation with GDP growth and rising demand from housing and infrastructure sectors. An outlay of Rs 11.11 lakh crore for capital expenditure has been allotted in Budget FY25 which represents 3.4% of GDP. Phase IV of PMGSY will be launched to provide all-weather connectivity to 25,000 rural habitations. All these measures expected to bring buoyancy to cement demand.”

Ambuja Cements is a major cement producing company in India. The principal activity of the company is to manufacture and market cement and clinker for both domestic and export markets.

The scrip rose 0.76% to Rs 679.60 on the BSE.