Displaying items by tag: India Cements

India: India Cements has appointed P L Subramanian as a non-executive director with immediate effect. Subramanian joined the company in 1986 and has served in various positions. He was serving as its executive director of operations and retired from service in May 2015.

India: India Cements has benefitted from better realisations during the fourth quarter of 2015, which ended on 31 March 2015, when it reported a net profit compared to a loss in the same quarter in the previous year.

For the fourth quarter of 2015, India Cements reported a net profit of US$5.73m compared to a net loss of US$24.6m in the same quarter of its 2014 financial year. Total income fell to US$163m, down from US$176m in 2014. Total expenses fell to US$132m from US$158m. Power and fuel costs fell to US$42.8m from US$54m. Transportation and handling costs were also lower at US$32.5m, compared to US$42.7m in 2014.

N Srinivasan, India Cements vice chairman and managing director, said that cement prices stabilised during the fourth quarter of 2015 and lower costs of production due to lower fuel prices had contributed to better realisations. However, he said that demand continues to be slow as infrastructure demand is yet to pick up.

With a cement production capacity of about 15 – 16Mt/yr, the company is operating at a capacity utilisation of about 61%. Srinivasan said that even at this level, the company was in profit.

India: Trinetra Cement Ltd's shareholders have approved the amalgamation of Trinetra Cement, Trishul Concrete Products Ltd and India Cements. The plan was first announced in 2014. "The company wants to consolidate cement operations and the merger of Trinetra Cement Ltd and Trishul Concrete Products with India Cements will bring operations under one company," said N Srinivasan, vice chairman and managing director of India Cements.

India: The India Cements has approved the transfer of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to an exclusively-owned subsidiary called Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd. The decision came following the previous statement made by The India Cements on 6 February 2015 regarding reorganisation proposals relating to the subsidiary.

The transfer comes after a judgment made by the Supreme Court in January 2015, in which the controversial clause in the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) constitution that allowed members to have commercial interests in tournaments like the Indian Premier League (IPL) was struck down. As such, the BCCI's president N Srinivasan, who is also president of The India Cements, has been barred from contesting any polls of the board until he renounces the ownership of Chennai Super Kings.

The India Cements has completed the required documentation for the transfer and also informed the BSE that it would transfer its IPL team CSK to the new subsidiary, Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd (CSKC). After approving the demerger of CSK into a wholly-owned subsidiary of The India Cements on 26 September 2014, the board of directors had stated that the effective date of transfer will be 1 January 2015.

India: The India Cements Ltd has reported a net loss of US$1.87m for the quarter that ended on 31 December 2014 against a marginal profit of US$674 in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Total income from operations stood at US$167m for the quarter, up marginally from US$166m in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Vice chairman and managing director N Srinivasan said that the increased net plant realisation helped it to offset the cost increase and drop in sales volume. Consequently, earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation (EBIDTA) improved to US$26.2m compared to US$23.4m during the same period of the prior year quarter. Srinivasan said that cement demand in the south of India had been almost flat. In this context, he pointed to capacity utilisation, which stood at 56% in the third quarter of 2015, as against 63% in the same quarter of the previous year.

The board of directors of The India Cements also reappointed Rupa Gurunath as wholetime director for a further five years with effect from 5 March 2015, subject to necessary approvals.

India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has closed a case of alleged cartel activity among 11 cement companies due to a lack of evidence. The companies were named as Penna Cements, India Cements, Bharathi Cements, Dalmia (Bharat) Cements, Bhavya Cements, Zuari Cements, Ultratech Cements, Jaypee Cements, Ramco Cements, KCP Cements and My Home Cements.

India: The India Cements Ltd (ICL) has returned to black in the second quarter of its 2015 financial year, which ended 30 September 2014, after reporting loss for four quarters in a row. It has reported profit for the quarter despite a drop in volume and rising cost pressures.

The India Cements reported a net profit before tax of US$1.22m for the second quarter of the 2015 financial year, compared to a loss of US$5.11m in the previous year. Sales volumes were down by 3% to 2.35Mt against 2.44Mt in the prior year. Net sales were higher at US$184m during the quarter, compared to US$176m in the previous year.

T S Raghupathy, special adviser to The India Cements, said that the Indian cement industry reported a 9% in the first half of the 2015 financial year. However, growth in the south was the weakest among the regions. Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the principal markets for India Cements, virtually saw de-growth, he added.

India: The India Cements Ltd (ICL) has decided to hive off Chennai Super Kings (CSK), a cricket team owned by it and run as a division of the company, into a wholly-owned subsidiary. Chennai Super Kings is a BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and IPL (Indian Premier League) Franchise Twenty20 Cricket Tournament Team.

"We propose to de-merge CSK division into a wholly-owned subsidiary of our company,'' said ICL. The de-merger proposal will be taken up for the consideration of the board at its ensuing meeting. CSK has given ICL a new brand image and a pan-India corporate identity.

The iconic stature of M S Dhoni, the skipper of CSK, has helped the company in its forays into news markets such as Rajasthan and Gujarat. Thanks to CSK, ICL has become a household name in India.

India: As a result of poor demand and unremunerative prices, several cement companies in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana have shut down plants or are running them on a campaign basis. Andhra Pradesh and Telengana have nearly 25% of India's limestone reserves.

"Demand continues to be weak, but prices have started to improve now as manufacturers have decided not to sell below cost," said one unnamed cement producer. "Several plants in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana have shut down or are in the process of a sale."

Among the plants that have shut down their operations temporarily is the Panyam Cements' 0.4Mt/yr capacity cement plant in Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh. "We had shut our plant due to internal financial issues, but that has been sorted out and the plant restarted 10 days ago," said a Panyam spokesperson. Bheema Coromandel, which has a 1.2Mt/yr plant near Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh is only running its plant for 'token' production, according to local sources.

"There is practically no demand in South India," said N Srinivasan, vice chairman and managing director of India Cements. "The negative growth in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana has continued for far too long." India Cements has reported a US$493,340 net loss for the quarter that ended on 30 June 2014.

Cement production capacity in the south of India is around 110Mt/yr, while demand is only 70Mt/yr. Consequently, existing cement makers have trimmed their capacity utilisation to around 65% and are holding on to prices to ensure there are no losses.

"There are expectations of improvements in the sentiment with the new Union Budget proposals for reviving growth, stepping up investments in infrastructure and housing," said Srinivasan. "The bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh has also raised hopes for renewed economic activity under the new governments in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana."

India: India Cements plans to revamp and increase the production capacity of its cement plant in Tamil Nadu with an investment of US$13.3m.

The cement plant will be upgraded, including a new line and optimisation of the existing kiln, increasing capacity to about 1.70Mt/yr from the present 0.6Mt/yr. India Cements is currently seeking environmental clearance and, once this is in place, the project will commence. The total power requirement for the increased capacity will be about 28MW, including about 13MW for the new line.