The Ramco Cements Q4 net profit grows 23% to Rs 152 crore, beats estimates

At the operating level, EBITDA jumped 39.5 percent to Rs 412 crore in the fourth quarter of this fiscal over Rs 295.4 crore in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal.

EBITDA margin stood at 16 percent in the reporting quarter as compared to 17.4 percent in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal. EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation.

During the current quarter, the sale of cement and dry mortar products was 4.70 million tonne, compared to 3.23 million tonne in the corresponding period of the preceding fiscal with an impressive volume growth of 46 percent. During FY23, the sale of cement and dry mortar products is 15.02 million tonne, compared to 11.14 million tonne in FY22 with a volume growth of 35 percent.

While the average net realisable price of cement was flat during the year, the elevated prices of pet coke/coal have dented the margins. Further, the transportation cost by rail has increased by 15 percent due to the re-imposition of the busy season surcharge from October 1, 2022, and the increase in diesel price by 3 percent during FY23 has pushed up the inbound and outbound logistics cost.

During Q4, blended EBITDA per tonne is Rs 917, compared to Rs 956 in 04FY22 with a de-growth of 4 percent. Blended EBITDA per tonne for FY23 is Rs 823 as against Rs 1,190 during FY22. During Q4FY23, the operating ratio is 16 percent compared to 18 percent in 04FY22 with a de-growth of 2 percent. The operating ratio for FY23 is 15 percent, as against 22 percent during FY22 with a de-growth of 7 percent.

The net debt for the company as on March 31, 2023, is Rs 4,351 crores, out of which Rs 478 crore isa for working capital. The net debt to EBITDA for FY23 is 3.57 as against 2.88 in FY22. The average cost of interest-bering borrowings for FY23 increased to 6.35 percent from 5.22 percent in FY22.