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PRESS
RELEASE
21
April 2009
UltraTech
Cement announces financial results for the year ended 31 March
2009
PAT
down 3 per cent for FY 2009
Increased
volume mitigates fall in margins
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(Rs.
crore)
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FY
2009
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FY
2008
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Change
(in per cent)
|
|
Net
sales
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6,383
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5,509
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16
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PBIDT
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1,810
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1,827
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(1)
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| Profit
after tax (PAT) |
977
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1,008
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(3)
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UltraTech Cement Limited, part of the Aditya Birla Group, announced
its financial results today for the year ended 31 March, 2009.
Financials
– FY 2009
The
company achieved net revenues of Rs.6,383 crore representing
a 16 per cent growth contributed by higher sales volume and
higher prices, with the latter driven by rising input costs,
with consequent fall in margins from 33 per cent in FY 2008
to 28 per cent in FY 2009. Profit before interest, depreciation
and tax was Rs.1,810 crore, 1 per cent short of FY 2008. Profit
after tax at Rs.977 crore was 3 per cent below the previous
year after providing for interest of Rs.126 crore (Rs.82 crore),
depreciation of Rs.323 crore (Rs.237 crore) and tax of Rs.384
crore (Rs.499 crore). The lower tax payout reflects the impact
of higher depreciation arising from the increased investments
in new capacity / power plants. As a result, cash profit was
Rs.1,481 crore (Rs.1,228 crore).
Effective
capacity utilisation on expanded capacity stood at 96 per
cent and represents the company’s efforts to maximise
availability. The export ban on clinker during the period
April 2008 to May 2008 adversely affected the export of clinker,
for which there was no economic outlet in India. Simultaneously,
variable cost increased by over 23 per cent during FY 2009
on account of higher energy and raw material cost.
The company
has a strong balance sheet with a debt equity ratio of 0.6
and an interest cover of more than 11 times.
Financials
– Q4FY2009
The company achieved net revenues of Rs.1,860 crore (Rs.1,601
crore) driven by an 11 per cent growth compared to industry
growth of 9 per cent. The expanded volume mitigated cost inflation
contributing to a profit before interest, depreciation and tax
of Rs.562 crore (Rs.517 crore), though margins declined from
32 per cent in Q4 FY 2008 to 30 per cent in Q4FY 2009. The profit
after tax stood at Rs.309 crore (Rs.283 crore) after providing
for interest of Rs.34 crore (Rs. 21 crore), depreciation of
Rs. 91 crore (Rs.65 crore) and tax of Rs.128 crore (Rs.148 crore).
Higher depreciation contributed to an improvement in cash profit
at Rs.469 crore (Rs.304 crore).
Effective
capacity utilisation was 107 per cent on the expanded capacity.
Variable costs increased by 8 per cent on the corresponding
quarter in the previous year; though a softening in fuel prices
yielded a 12 per cent reduction in variable costs on a sequential
basis. Regrettably, this gain was neutralised by an increase
in rail freight.
A good
monsoon and the impact of the loan waiver scheme and the 6th
Pay Commission revision supported growth in retail housing
apart from an increase in pre-election expenditure by state
governments on local infrastructure.
Capex
The company’s capacity stands augmented to 21.9 million
tpa on 31 March, 2009 following the commissioning of its grinding
unit at Ginigera in Karnataka and two new cement mills at its
Andhra Pradesh Cement Works (APCW). This capacity will rise
to 23.1 million tpa by the end of Q1FY 2010 on commissioning
of residual capacities in the pipeline at APCW.
The company
has also commissioned 192 mw of captive thermal power plant
raising its total capacity to 236 mw, which represents nearly
80 per cent of your company’s power requirements.
Dividend
The board
of directors at their meeting held today recommended a dividend
of 50 per cent, aggregating to Rs.62.24 crore. The company will
absorb the corporate tax on dividend amounting to Rs.10.58 crore,
resulting in a total payout of Rs.72.82 crore.
Outlook
Future expectations of economic growth, and its impact on industry
growth, are contingent on a good monsoon and a stable government
post-elections. A slow down in economic growth will aggravate
the inevitable surplus in production capacity. Over 20 million
tpa of new capacity has already been commissioned in FY 2009
and the expected commissioning of an additional 50 million tpa
in FY 2010 and a further 15 million tpa in the following year
is likely to result in a reduction in capacity utilisations,
with adverse impact on margins.
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