Mumbai: UltraTech Cement Ltd on Monday said its consolidated net profit for the March quarter fell 11.3% from a year ago due to higher total cost and tax expenses.
Consolidated net profit for the quarter fell to Rs726.09 crore from Rs 818.56 crore a year ago. Net sales rose marginally 2.9% to Rs7,923.96 crore from Rs7,700.34 crore in the same quarter last year.
Earnings beat market estimates. Three analysts polled by Bloomberg estimated the company to report a net profit of Rs632.10 crore, and net sales at Rs6,814.10 crore.
Total expenses rose 5.4% to Rs7,110.32 crore, while tax expenses rose 17.8% to Rs328.32 crore.
The company said in a notice to BSE that setting up a cement plant at Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, with 3.5 mtpa capacity is on track and its commercial production is expected to commence from the fourth quarter of 2019. The company also commissioned grinding units at Maharashtra and Bihar, it said.
With this expansion and the acquisition of the cement plants of Jaiprakash Associates Ltd, including overseas operations, its cement capacity was at 95.4 mtpa.
The company said it sold 47.62 MnT domestic grey cement in financial year 2017, up 1.04% from 47.13 MnT a year ago. White cement and wall care putty recorded sales of 13.18 LmT during the year, up 0.46% from 13.12 LmT last year.
UltraTech Cement shares closed at Rs4,144.35 on the BSE, up 4.42% from its previous close, while India’s benchmark Sensex index rose 0.99% to 29,655.84 points.