Optimistic about 6-7% volume growth in FY20, says Orient Cement

Orient Cement is expecting to achieve 6-7 percent volume growth in the financial year 2020, said Deepak Khetrapal, MD & CEO of the company.

The company posted solid numbers in the first quarter as EBITDA margins came in at a 17-quarter high. However, Khetrapal said the first quarter was weak in terms of volume growth.

“Second quarter typically does happen to be a slower quarter than Q1 because the monsoon sets in and construction activity slows down,” he said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

However, he said post-monsoon, things will improve and strong growth is likely.

“We are looking forward to a strong growth post-monsoon period. We are pegging the annual growth at about 6-7 percent for the year and that means that second half will have to grow a lot faster,” said Khetrapal.

Talking about capacity expansion, he said, “Our expansion plans are very much there but the prerequisite for starting any construction or putting any fund is environmental clearance. We are still working with the government to get the environmental clearance and which is not expected before the end of this calendar year.”

“There is no question of us kicking off any actual investments in the projects till the environmental clearances are in hand and then we start the construction. If any investment happens in expanding capacity, it will only start in Q1 of the next financial year," he added.