Ambuja Cements delivers a steady performance in Q2 FY’25

Ahmedabad, 29 October 2024: Ambuja Cements, the most trusted legacy cement brand, one of India’s largest cement and building materials company and part of the diversified Adani Group today announces steady financial performance for Q2 and first half-year(H1) of FY’25. This performance is supported by healthy volume growth, increasing scale of operations, value extraction of acquired assets, enhanced cost leadership, improved operational efficiencies and group synergies.

Mr. Ajay Kapur, Whole Time Director & CEO, Ambuja Cements, said, “We are glad to deliver another sustained performance aligned to our growth blueprint and setting new benchmarks in efficiency. We continue to focus on innovation, digitisation, customer satisfaction and ESG as the core elements of our business. With our strong foothold across the nation, we are further expanding our footprint in new geographies in-line with our vision. Post successful completion of the orient cement transaction, we are well poised to achieve 100+ MTPA capacity by this fiscal year end.’

Operational Highlights

Particulars (YoY) Q2 FY’25 H1 FY’25
Sales Volume

(Clinker & Cement)

Growth of 9% YoY, at 14.2 MnT, highest volume in Q2 series in last 5 years Growth of 6% YoY, at 30.1 MnT, highest volume in H1 series in last 5 years
Kiln Fuel

Cost

Reduced by 13%

(Rs. 1.82 to Rs. 1.59/’000 kCal)

Reduced by 15%

(Rs. 1.96 to Rs. 1.67/’000 kCal)

WHRS as a % of total power Consumption Increased by

3.2 pp to 15.1%

Increased by

3.4 pp to 15.1%

AFR consumption in Kiln Increased by

2.5 pp to 9.5%

Increased by

2.4 pp to 9.4%

  • Capex & Opex based initiatives across all operational areas viz.  volumes, efficiencies and cost coupled with Group synergies have shown healthy improvements reinforcing Ambuja’s cost leadership.
  • Increased use of low cost Imported Petcoke and E-auction coal along with overall reduction in cost of fuel basket have contributed to 13% reduction in Kiln fuel cost (Consolidated) from Rs. 1.82 to Rs. 1.59 per ’000 Kcal.
  • Thermal energy consumption improved by 3 kCal/Kg of Clinker at 758 kCal.

Financial Highlights (Consolidated)

  • Highest revenue in Q2 series in the last 5 years at Rs. 7,516 Cr, driven by higher trade sales volume (up by 1%) and premium product as % of trade sales at 26% (up by 3.3 pp YoY)
  • Higher volume along with improved operational parameters resulted in growth in all business parameters.
  • EBITDA PMT @ Rs. 780, EBITDA Margin of 14.8%,
  • Net worth increased by Rs.450 Cr during the quarter and stands at Rs. 59,916 Cr, company remains debt free & continues to maintain Crisil AAA (stable) / Crisil A1+ ratings.
  • The Cash & Cash Equivalent stands at Rs. 10,135 Cr enables accelerated growth in future.
  • For Ambuja (consolidated), business level working capital stands at 33 days, reflecting agility in unblocking the funds in inventory and receivables.

Financial Performance for the Quarter ended September 30, 2024:

Particulars UoM Consolidated Standalone
Q2

FY’25

Q2

FY’24

Q2

FY’25

Q2

FY’24

Sales Volume

(Cement and Clinker)

Mn T 14.2 13.1 8.7 7.6
Revenue from Operations Rs. Cr 7,516 7,424 4,213 3,970
Operating EBITDA & Margin Rs. Cr 1,111 1,302 681 773
% 14.8% 17.5% 16.2% 19.5%
Rs. PMT 780 995 784 1,020
Other Income Rs. Cr 374 476 265 378
Profit Before Tax Rs. Cr 713 1,340 673 880
Profit After Tax Rs. Cr 473* 987 501 644
EPS – Diluted Rs. 1.85 3.74 2.03 3.03

Financial Performance for the Half-Year ended September 30, 2024:

Particulars UoM Consolidated Standalone
H1

FY’25

H1

FY’24

H1

FY’25

H1

FY’24

Sales Volume

(Cement and Clinker)

Mn T 30.1 28.5 18.0 16.7
Revenue from Operations Rs. Cr 15,828 16,137 8,729 8,700
Operating EBITDA & Margin Rs. Cr 2,391 2,969 1,327 1,722
% 15.1% 18.4% 15.2% 19.8%
Rs. PMT 795 1,042 736 1,031
Other Income Rs. Cr 729 739 685 568
Profit Before Tax Rs. Cr 1,807 2,851 1,437 1,746
Profit After Tax Rs. Cr 1,256* 2,123 1,068 1,289
EPS – Diluted Rs. 4.47 8.04 4.36 6.10

ESG Updates

  • Ambuja becomes world’s first cement company to join the Alliance for Industry Decarbonization (AFID), an initiative of IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency)
  • Ambuja Cement has been honoured with prestigious Golden Peacock Award for excellence in ESG
  • Ambuja Cements becomes a signatory to the transitioning industrial cluster initiative of World Economic Forum
  • Ambuja and ACC are committed to Net Zero by 2050. These are the only 2 cement companies in India who are undergoing Net Zero target validation from SBTi
  • Sustainability Reports for Ambuja and ACC are published and can be accessed at respective websites
  • We have taken noteworthy initiatives on renewable power, water conservation, circular economy, TSR, tree plantation & high share of green cement in product mix
  • Ambuja and ACC created societal values for over 4.72 million people by contributing to fields like healthcare, education, employment, and sustainable livelihoods

Branding

  • Ambuja Cements and ACC launch new Brand Films honouring ‘Real-life Giants’ and ‘Glorious Unity of India on 78th Independence Day.
  • Ambuja Cements has created an innovative content series titled #Giants together to show case inspiring stories of loyal contractors across India

Digitalisation

  • A state-of-the-art in-plant automation covering automated weighbridge operations, vehicle movement control and tracking, vehicle identification, intelligent order allocation, auto truck sequencing, and packing plant automation has been implemented across some plants
  • ‘Adani Cement Connect’ – the Digital Sales platform allows dealers to place orders and check real-time outstanding payments, invoices, credit and debit notes
  • ‘Adani Rewards Connect’ – the Digital Rewards platform – enables contractors, dealers, and retailers to check their loyalty gains and redeem them using the rewards catalogue
  • The Company has made significant advancements in its digitalization journey by modernizing its network infrastructure and implementation of SD-WAN, resulting in faster order processing and quicker business transactions.

Outlook

Strong infrastructure demand and ongoing needs from the housing and commercial sectors are anticipated to boost cement demand in H2 FY 2025. The introduction of PMAY Urban Housing 2.0, with an allocation of ₹11 lakh crore, along with Government’s continued focus on infrastructure development as the key to economic growth augurs well for cement sector. Strategic investments in roads, railways along with urban and commercial amenities, is poised to drive robust growth. We expect demand during FY 2025 to grow in the range of 4-5%

Achievements

  • Ambuja Cements is amongst the 8 Adani Group companies to be featured in TIME’s prestigious Best Companies 2024 list.
  • 5-Star Rating awarded for RKBA Limestone Mine by the Ministry of Mines and Indian Bureau of Mines.
  • 5 plants received Platinum, and 3 received Gold Awards at the 6th ICC National Occupational Health and Safety Conference & Awards.

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