Displaying items by tag: India Cements

India: The State High Level Clearance Committee of Karnataka has approved an expansion project at Birla Shakti Cement’s plant in Vasavadatta and a new plant at Gulbarga that will be built by India Cements. Birla Shakti Cement, a subsidiary of Kesoram Industries, is planning a US$97m upgrade to increase the plant’s production capacity to 9Mt/yr from 4.1Mt/yr. India Cements is planning to build a 2Mt/yr plant at Gulbarga.

India: India Cement’s sales revenue has risen by 19% year-on-year to US$187m in the quarter than ended on 31 December 2016 from US$156m in the same period in 2015. Clinker and cement sales volumes rose by 22% to 2.36Mt from 1.94Mt. The cement producer said that it found the result ‘gratifying’ in view of the uncertainty created by the government’s demonetisation policy from November 2016 although the company had not experienced any negative impact itself. It also reported that a ‘steep’ price increase for petcoke and imported coal had been noted during the period.

Overall, India Cement’s income rose by 8% to US$558m for the nine months of 31 December 2016 from US$518m in the same period in 2015. Its profit rose by 78% to US$20.9m from US$11.7m.

India: The India Cements Limited (ICL) has started promoting a new sulphate-resistant cement. The new product, Coromandel SRC, is a specialty-blended cement targeted for construction in aggressive environment such as a coastal areas. It will be manufactured at its Vishnupuram Plant in Telangana, according to the Hindu newspaper.

The new product is part of a business drive by the cement producer to improve its relationship with the distribution network. Other initiatives include extending technical support to its stockists and dealers in marketing new products. The company is also promoting Coromandel Duralite Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) blocks which are made from cement, fly ash, lime and alumina, an aeration agent.

India: India Cements revenue has fallen by 5% year-on-year to US$636m for the financial year that ended on 31 March 2016 from US$663m in the same period in 2015 - 2016. Its net profit rose to US$20.5m from US$4.39m.

In the notes provided with its annual financial results the Indian cement producer reported that its was appealing against a provisional attachment order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 attaching certain assets of the company for a value of US$17.9m. It also noted that according to the condition imposed by Board of Cricket Control in India, India Cements provided a guarantee for the purpose of guaranteeing performance and compliance by Chennai Super Kings of the obligations of the franchise under the agreement. The Chennai Super Kings cricket team was suspended for two years in mid 2015 due to a corruption scandal.

India: The Competition Appellate Tribunal has set aside a US$945m penalty imposed on 11 cement firms by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on accusations of cartel behaviour and asked the fair trade regulator to resubmit the case. The Tribunal also allowed the cement manufacturers to withdraw the 10% penalty amount already deposited with the CCI, according to the Press Trust of India.

The judgement follows appeals filed by the cement firms and their industry body, the Cement Manufacturers Association, against the two CCI orders passed in June - July 2012. The cement companies included ACC, Ambuja Cements, Binani Cements, Century Textiles Ltd, India Cements, JK Cements, Lafarge India, Madras Cements, Ultratech, JP Associates and Shree Cements.

The CCI had passed the orders after an investigation into complaints, including from Builders Association of India (BAI), against alleged price collaboration between cement firms.

The orders were later challenged at the Competition Appellate Tribunal, which ordered that 'the impugned order is set aside and the matter is remitted to the CCI for fresh adjudication of the issues relating to alleged violation" of the relevant sections of the Competition Act.'

India: The India Cements Limited (ICL) has posted a nearly five-fold growth in its net profit for the second quarter of its 2016 fiscal year, which ended on 30 September 2015.

Its net profit grew from US$1.14m to US$6.26m in the second quarter of its 2016 fiscal year. Growth mainly stemmed from improved operating parameters and substantial reductions in variable costs. Its operating profit grew to US$35.4m from US$27.9m. Cement capacity utilisation was at 60% and is expected to rise.

According to Managing Director and Vice-Chairman of ICL, N Srinivasan, the last three quarters have seen the company posting consistent profits, a development that Srinivasan said had resulted in the company seeing better times ahead. "We have remained on the profit track for three consecutive quarters. Going forward, we see better times ahead. We had a tough time for two years and have achieved a turnaround by cutting costs and maintaining a healthy cement price," said Srinivasan. "With expected the increase in cement demand in the southern states and Andhra Pradesh building its new capital city Amaravati, we hope that the company will do well in the coming years."

India: The India Cements Limited has announced that the pending approval of the Scheme of Amalgamation between Trinetra Cement Limited and Trishul Concrete Products Limited with The India Cements Limited and their respective shareholders by the High Court of Judicature at Madras has been extended until 31 December 2015 by the Registrar of Companies.

India: The government has decided to cancel the allotment of a cement plant given to India Cements in Gumma, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.

The decision was taken after India Cements expressed its unwillingness to start works, according to local media. "It has been decided to cancel the allotment as the company is no longer keen to set up the plant and they have failed to show any progress in the years since the allotment was made," said Mukesh Agnihotri, industry minister. He added that the government cabinet would need to confirm the allotment cancellation.

Agnihotri said that the government plans to invite global bids for the proposed cement plant in Chamba have been put on hold as Jaiprakash Associates, which had earlier been given the project, has moved to court. The project in Chamba was allotted to Jaiprakash Associates in 2006 and a memorandum of understanding was signed in February 2007 to establish a 2Mt/yr capacity cement plant.

The industry department issued notices to three cement plants in addition to Jaiprakash Associates as to why their plants should not be cancelled, as they had failed to set up facilities that had been approved several years ago. The three cement plants included units by Lafarge in Alsindi, India Cement in Gumma and Harish Cement in Sundernagar. After finding the replies unsatisfactory, the government cancelled the cement plants allotted to Jaiprakash Associates and India Cements. Some of the companies have already invested a lot of money, but could not start operation due to various factors, including clearances from different agencies like the Ministry of Forest and Environment. In some cases, locals have moved to court against the projects, citing loss of agricultural land and an adverse impact on the health of people.

India: The India Cements has posted a net profit of US$6.15m for the quarter that ended on 30 June 2015 when compared with a net loss of US$455,297 in the same period of 2014. This is the second successive quarter that it has reported a net profit. The India Cements attributed the good performance to better prices for cement bags and lower expenses as a consequence of cost-control measures.

The India Cements' earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBIDTA) grew to US$30.6m from US$25.5m in the same quarter of 2014. Net sales for the quarter fell to US$165m from US$189m in the same period of 2014 as cement sales fell to 2.08Mt from 2.39Mt in the 2014 quarter.

"It was a strong quarter and price stabilisation is slowly taking place. Overall, we have turned a corner. Our next task is to the stabilise performance and improve the bottom line through a combination of cost control measures and increases in volume," said N Srinivasan, vice chairman and managing director of the company.

Srinivasan said that cement demand in the south of India continued to be under pressure with negative growth. With the huge excess capacity in the region, utilisation levels remained at less than 60%, compared with the 70% levels seen for India as a whole. Srinivasan said that he hoped that Seemandhra and Telangana would spur demand to help improve utilisation levels.

India: N Srinivasan has resigned from the board of financial services company India Cements Capital (ICCL), part of India Cements.

"N Srinivasan and T S Raghupathy have resigned as directors of the company with effect from 30 March 2015," said ICCL in a statement. ICCL provides various financial services like money changing services and advisory services on the foreign exchange market to exporters and importers.