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Displaying items by tag: India
India: Ambuja Cement has reported a 26% year-on-year increase in stand-alone net profit for the second-quarter of 2014, led by increase in sales and other income. The company posted a second-quarter stand-alone net profit of US$68.0m, up from US$53.9 for the second quarter of 2013. Ambuja Cement's quarterly net sales were US$450m, up by 15% from US$390m in the preceding year quarter, while other operating income was US$2.28m, compared with US$5.48m in the second-quarter of 2013. During the second quarter, sales volumes rose by 8% to 5.79Mt from 5.38Mt in the prior-year quarter.
India: ACC has reported a second quarter 2014 net profit of US$40.1m, some 7% lower than the US$43.1m reported in the second quarter of 2013. The fall in profit was attributed to higher total expenses. ACC also announced that Harish Badami was appointed as CEO and managing director with effect from 13 August 2014.
"Manufacturing and distribution costs continued to face escalation, though we derived some benefits from the ongoing cost leadership programme and an increase in the sales of premium products," said ACC.
Revenue grew by 7.5% year-on-year to US$509m during the second quarter of 2014, aided by higher volumes. Sales volumes increased to 6.35Mt, up from 6.12Mt in the same period of 2013.
"Demand for cement showed some improvement and the company's overall sales volumes during the quarter improved by 4%," said ACC. The company expects the positive trend in demand for cement to continue as a result of government's emphasis on housing and infrastructure development.
Profit before interest and tax from its cement business declined to US$50.7m from US$57.7m year-on-year. Operating profit (EBITDA) dropped by 8% year-on-year to US$74.9m. Total expenses during the quarter increased by 10% compared to year-ago period due to higher raw material and employee costs and increased power, fuel and freight charges. Other expenses grew by 8% year-on-year.
India: Aditya Birla Group's Ultratech Cement Ltd has reported net profits and sales for the first quarter of financial 2015, which was April to June 2014, with regards to both stand-alone and consolidated results. On a consolidated basis, Ultratech's first quarter net profit, after minority interest, was US$104m, whereas the company reported US$111m in the corresponding quarter of 2014. Quarterly net sales and other operating income amounted to US$1.00bn, while the same was at US$880m in the first quarter of the 2014 financial year. Other income stood at US$35.7m in the current fiscal year, up from US$25.4m in the 2014 fiscal year. Combined domestic grey cement and clinker sales volumes were 11.70Mt, up by 16% from 10.08Mt in the same period of 2014.
India: Shree Cement is planning an expansion of its captive limestone-mining project at Baloda Bazar, Raipur District, Chhattisgarh from 4.8Mt/yr to 8.6Mt/yr on 5.31km2 of land. The project will be part of its integrated cement plant and will be designed by JM Enviro Net. The expansion is currently waiting for environmental clearance. Mining work is expected to commence within two years.
Maha Cement plans Sri Lanka market entry
22 July 2014India: Maha Cement has announced that it plans to enter the Sri Lanka cement market with its joint venture company, My Home Industries Limited (MHIL), which is part-owned by Ireland's CRH. MHIL has 8.40Mt/yr of cement production capacity and plans to increase its capacity to 10Mt/yr by 2015. It plans to set up a cement plant in the east coast of Tamil Nadu, India, for import to nearby Sri Lanka.
India: A new Inter-Ministerial Task Force (IMTF) has been constituted to undertake a comprehensive review of the existing coal resources and to consider feasibility for rationalisation of linkages.
The major recommendations of the IMTF include acceptance of the recommendations of Coal India Limited (CIL) to rationalise existing coal resources. CIL has received 31 applications for rationalisation, including eight from captive power plants, out of which it recommended rationalisation in seven cases. There were two applications from cement plants.
"The approved recommendations of the IMTF were sent to CIL," said Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal. "CIL and the coal companies have implemented the recommendations pertaining to rationalisation of coal resources to captive power plants, sponge iron and cement plants." With regard to the rationalisation of resources of power utilities, the IMTF's recommendations are all inter-linked and could be implemented only with the consent of all the consumers. However, the consumers concerned did not agree to the revised arrangement.
The government has also expedited environment and forest clearances and land acquisition processes to improve Indian coal production. According to Goyal, India does have adequate coal resources to meet demand. Steps have been taken by CIL and its subsidiaries to augment production, including capacity addition from new projects and the use of mass production technologies. As per official data, the total estimated quantum of coal resources in India is 301.56Bnt. Some 12.53Bnt of coal has been extracted between 1950 and 2013-2014, with 566Mt of that in 2013-2014 alone.
Vicat buys out Vicat Sagar in India
16 July 2014India: Vicat Group has purchased Sagar Cements' stake in Vicat Sagar Cement for US$72m, subject to customary conditions precedents. After this transaction, Vicat will own 100% of Vicat Sagar Cement. Together with the share purchase, the two groups will untie all their ownership links.
Vicat Sagar Cement operates a cement plant in North Karnataka with a cement production capacity of 3Mt/yr. The plant includes its own captive power plant and access to the rail network. Vicat's India operations, comprising Bharathi Cement and Vicat Sagar Cement, include two cement plants with a total production capacity of 8Mt/yr.
In 2013 Vicat reported sales of US$210m in India, a rise of 12.7% year-on-year. In the first quarter of 2014, sales in India rose by 27.2%.
OCL’s Bengal Cement Works goes on stream
15 July 2014India: OCL India, an associate company of Dalmia Cement Bharat Ltd, has invested US$102m in the Bengal Cement Works plant in Paschim Medinipur Distict, West Bengal State.
Puneet Dalmia, director of OCL India, said that US$83.1m had already been spent on the project. According to Dalmia, construction of the 2Mt/yr capacity plant began in 2012 and had recently been completed. This was OCL's largest project outside Odisha State.
"This plant marks the initiation of the company's investment cycle in West Bengal,'' said Dalmia. OCL already has two cement plants at Cuttack and Rajgangpur in Odisha. The Bengal Cements Works will be the anchor investor at the Godapiasal Industrial Park.
Brazil: The leaders of the rapidly growing BRIC economy countries, which include Brazil, Russia, India, China and now South Africa, will launch their own development bank at a summit in Brazil in 14-18 July 2014. The BRIC nations are also working on proposals to set up a 'mini International Monetary Fund (IMF),' according to the Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov.
The plan for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to set up a bank to finance infrastructure projects began in 2012 and the group agreed on the project's outline in 2013 after seeing investors divert money from emerging economies, hurting their currencies. Disagreements over funding, management and where to locate the headquarters of the new entity held up progress, but Siluanov said that the leaders themselves would decide whether it should be based in Shanghai or Delhi when they meet in Fortaleza, Brazil in 14-18 July 2014.
The New Development Bank will be able to start lending in 2016. It will focus chiefly on infrastructure projects and will be available to other members of the United Nations. The five nations will put up an initial US$2bn each in financing with a further US$40bn in guarantees. The financing will eventually build up to US$100bn. Siluanov added that the five leaders would also sign a blueprint agreement on the group's other signature project, a US$100bn fund to steady the currency markets.
"We have reached an agreement that, in the current conditions of capital volatility, it is important for our countries to have this buffer in addition to the IMF," said Siluanov. The mini IMF would act as an emergency fund for members facing currency devaluation or which were hit by sudden currency flight. China will contribute US$41bn, while Brazil, India and Russia will each give US$18bn and South Africa US$5bn.
India: Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (R-Infra), part of Reliance Group, has named M S Mehta as chief executive officer (CEO) with effect from 7 July 2014. He will take over as CEO from Lalit Jalan, who held the portfolio for more than seven years.
Mehta was the Group CEO of Vedanta Resources Plc until recently, having held the position for five years. Prior to that, Mehta was the CEO of Hindustan Zinc Ltd. Mehta is a mechanical engineer and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
R-Infra is an infrastructure company developing projects, through various special purpose vehicles, in sectors such as roads, metro rail and cement. R-Infra also promoted Jalan as director (corporate strategy and affairs), saying that Jalan will steer future growth initiatives.