Moneycontrol Bureau
Shree Cement's fourth quarter profit fell 62.5 percent to Rs 104 crore compared to Rs 277 crore in the year-ago period, but overall earnings beat street expectations on strong growth in power business.
Profit was estimated at Rs 42 crore on revenue of Rs 1,600 crore for the quarter, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18. The bottomline was hit by an exceptional item of Rs 24 crore, which written off assets constructed at others premises.The company follows July-June as its financial year.
Revenue grew by 4 percent to Rs 1,724.7 crore in June quarter from Rs 1,656.6 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.
Overall performance was also supported by its power business, which contributes 23 percent to total revenue, increased by 27.9 percent to Rs 398.43 crore year-on-year while cement business registered a 1.7 percent growth at Rs 1,515.3 crore.
Its main business - cement posted loss of Rs 47.6 crore at EBIT level (earnings before interest and tax) during the quarter against EBIT Rs 213.70 crore in the year-ago period. However, power EBIT grew by 176 percent to Rs 184.54 crore crore year-on-year.
Operating profit in June quarter fell by 18.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 357 crore and margin declined by 580 basis points to 20.7 percent against analysts' forecast of 29 percent degrowth in operating profit and 710 basis points decline in margin.Margin also dented by depreciation cost (up 55 percent to Rs 238.3 crore year-on-year), power & fuel cost (up 8.2 percent to Rs 415.7 crore) and freight & forwarding expenses (up 26 percent to Rs 401.1 crore).
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