ACC’s October-December Profit Falls 53% On One-Time Provision
ACC reports a flat profit growth for 2016
Cement maker ACC Ltd’s revenue fell 6.2 percent on a yearly basis to Rs 2,731.32 crore in the three months ended December 2016 as demonetisation of high-value currency notes hurt demand during the quarter.
Net sales at Rs 2,668. 64 crore narrowly missed the Bloomberg consensus estimate of Rs 2,672 crore.
Net profit fell 53 percent during the quarter to Rs 48.30 crore from Rs 102.60 crore in the year-ago period, according to the company’s filing to stock exchanges. This was significantly lower than the analyst estimate of Rs 72 crore.
Profit primarily fell due to a Rs 42.80 crore write-off made in last quarter, on account of a long-term investment made in coal blocks which had earlier been allocated to a subsidiary of ACC, but have now been revoked.
The company posted a 1.8 percent growth in net profit at Rs 602.40 for the full year as compared to Rs 591.60 crore in 2015. Total income in 2016 fell 5.4 percent to Rs 11,158 crore compared to Rs 11,796 crore in the previous year.
In the October-December quarter, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 9.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 254.2 crore. EBITDA margins contracted 37 basis points to 9.30 percent during the quarter.
Cement sales volume stood at 5.45 million tonne versus 6 million tonne in the corresponding quarter last year.
Optimistic Outlook
The company ,in its exchange filing, said it expects the effects of demonetisation to fade away and the economy to return to the growth path.
The slowdown witnessed after demonetisation is easing and we expect the economy to show solid growth in the months to come. Increased government spending on infrastructure development, housing, roads, railways, irrigation and other schemes as announced in the recent Union Budget are expected to further reinvigorate the construction sector soon and boost demand for cement and concrete during 2017.Statement From ACC