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Shree Cement To Focus On Prices Over Volumes In FY20

Shares of the cement maker rose over 6 percent intraday to hit an all-time high of Rs 20,656.95.

A worker levels a slab of cement at a construction site (Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg) 
A worker levels a slab of cement at a construction site (Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg) 

Shree Cement Ltd. expects to grow due to higher prices in the financial year 2020, in contrast from its volume-led growth in the previous fiscal.

“We are working on increasing quality and prices this year. So our volumes should be a little lower,” HM Bangur, the company’s managing director, said in an interview with BloombergQuint. He pegged the company’s volume target at 29-30 million tonnes for the FY20, an increase of 12-16 percent over the previous year.

Realisation of the Kolkata-based company, which reported its March quarter earnings on Saturday, declined by nearly 2 percent even as volumes grew by 15 percent in FY19, implying that volume growth came at lower prices.

Our average price hike was 2.5 percent year-on-year (for FY 2019). We expect only 3-4 percent increase in prices for the full year in FY 2020. Overall I don’t expect the full year prices to be very high.
HM Bangur, Managing Director, Shree Cement

Key Earnings Highlights (YoY)

  • Revenue rose 17 percent to Rs 3,285 crore.
  • Ebitda up 35 percent to Rs 847.8 crore.
  • Margin at 25.8 percent versus 22.4 percent.
  • Net profit fekk 20 percent to Rs 321 crore.
  • Lower other income, higher depreciation and higher tax expense led to decline in net profit.
  • Announced a dividend of Rs 35 per share.

Shares of the cement maker rose over 6 percent intraday to a record high of Rs 20,656.95 apiece.

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