Aditya Birla Group flagship UltraTech Cement looks to drive down its debt as cash flow improved on sustained robust demand for building materials, Chief Financial Officer Atul Daga told analysts.
As of December 31, 2023, net debt of the company stood at Rs 5,541 crore. The cement maker, which booked a 67 percent surge in Q3 net profit, said that its net debt position marginally increased by the end of December 2023 due to increase in capex cashflow and working capital.
"This year, our capex cash flow will exceed our initial estimate, which we have outlined, and we will spend around Rs 9,000 crore. Next year, too, we could see our cash flows on capex being around Rs 9,000 crore. Working capital has taken up some opportunistic bets on purchase of coal and pet coke," Daga said in an analysts call.
The analysts call was held on January 19, but its recording and transcript was made available only earlier this week.
UltraTech is confident of the demand and sees utilisation rate in the 80-85 percent range in the fourth quarter, up than 77 percent in the third quarter. "The Q4 will be a high throughput quarter, we should be seeing a further improvement in our cash flows and shrinking net debt... We are working towards reaching a zero net debt position by the end of March 2025," Daga said.
The cement major's profit climbed to Rs 1,774.78 crore in the three months ended December 2023 from Rs 1,062.58 crore a year earlier, revenue from operations climbed 7 percent to Rs 16,739.97 crore. Lower input costs helped the company protect its margins.
Expansion plans
The company said in November that it would acquire the cement business of the BK Birla Group's Kesoram Industries in an all-stock deal in a bid to expand its capacity amid intense competition for market share in the cement business.
"The effective date of merger has been kept on April 1, 2024. And, as and when the merger gets completed, the numbers will be consolidated with retrospective effect once all regulatory approvals are in place," Daga said.
Asked if the company is pursuing more inorganic purchases, he said: "Inorganic is always opportunistic and each transaction has to be examined on its fitment with UltraTech given the fact that we are pretty densely present in the country."
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