India: UltraTech Cement has reported a 13.5% drop in profit after tax to US$111m for the quarter ending on 30 June 2013. The cement producer, part of the Aditya Birla Group, offered no explanation for the decrease in profit. It did state that the quarter saw logistic and raw materials costs rise, linked to rises in railway freight and diesel prices.
The company's net sales for the quarter fell by 2% year-on-year to US$820m from US$837m. Profit before interest, depreciation and tax fell by 10% to US$205m from US$228m. Combined domestic cement and clinker sales were 9.94Mt. In its outlook UltraTech expected business to be challenging depending on housing demand and infrastructure spending.
In its development plans UltraTech reported that it has commissioned its 3.3Mt clinker plant in Karnataka. US$350m has been set aside to set up grinding plants, taking the company current capital expenditure total to US$2.25bn. Cement production capacity is planned to rise by 10Mt/yr by 2015 bringing the company's total capacity to 64.45Mt/yr.