India: UltraTech Cement reported consolidated net sales of US$2.35bn for the quarter, a 23% increase from US$1.93bn in the same period last year. Profit before interest, depreciation and tax stood at US$442m, up from US$346m, while normalised profit after tax rose to US$195m from US$149m. Overall capacity utilisation improved to 77%, compared to 72% in the previous year. The company achieved 29.4% growth in domestic grey cement sales, excluding volumes from India Cements and Kesoram, which were not part of UltraTech during the comparable period.
During the quarter, UltraTech commissioned 0.6Mt/yr of capacity at its Dhule Cement Works grinding unit in Maharashtra and 1.2Mt/yr at its integrated Nathdwara Cement Works unit in Rajasthan. The company says that these additions bring its domestic grey cement capacity to 188.66Mt/yr. Including 5.4Mt/yr of capacity in the UAE, UltraTech’s total global capacity now reportedly stands at 194.06Mt/yr.