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Dalmia Bharat Stock Surges To 52-Week High On Record Q2 Ebitda

Dalmia Bharat attributed the quarterly performance to rural demand and sustained efforts to control costs.

A worker carries a sack of cement under a conveyor in a warehouse at a Pooja Group Of Glass Industries factory in Ferozabad, Uttar Pradesh, India (Photographer: Udit Kulshrestha/Bloomberg)  
A worker carries a sack of cement under a conveyor in a warehouse at a Pooja Group Of Glass Industries factory in Ferozabad, Uttar Pradesh, India (Photographer: Udit Kulshrestha/Bloomberg)  

Shares of Dalmia Bharat Ltd. rose to the highest since August 2019 after the cement maker reported a sixfold jump in quarterly net profit and the highest-ever operating profit, aided by rural demand and a pickup in government’s infrastructure and low-cost housing projects.

Net profit stood at Rs 232 crore in the July-September period compared with Rs 36 crore a year ago, according to an exchange filing. That compares with the Rs 214.9 crore consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg.

Key highlights (year-on-year)

  • Revenue rose 7.8% to Rs 2,410 crore, higher than the Rs 2,370-crore forecast.
  • Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, rose 49% to Rs 703 crore, against the estimated Rs 628.5 crore. That’s the highest ever operating profit in the company’s history.
  • A fall in power and fuel costs, coupled with lower expenses led to an 800-basis-points expansion in the company’s margin at 29.2%.
  • Power and fuel expenses fell to Rs 350 crore from Rs 430 crore.

Other highlights (year-on-year)

  • Sales volume rose 7% to 4.8 million tonnes, led by rural demand. “The eastern states continued to outperform, with green shoots of demand revival visible in the south in the latter part of the quarter,” the company said in its post-earnings release.
  • Ebitda per tonne rose 40% to Rs 1,457, aided by a continuous containment of variable and fixed costs.
  • Net-debt to Ebitda stood at 0.87 times against 1.55 times a year ago. The company repaid gross debt worth Rs 246 crore in the reported quarter.
  • The company forayed into manufacturing in Maharashtra after the acquisition of Murli Industries. It has an integrated plant with an installed capacity of 3 million tonnes and a 50-megawatt thermal power plant.

Shares cooled off from the day's high to end 2.3% higher at Rs 892.6, the highest level since February this year.