India Cements Ltd, on 20 May, announced its quarterly earnings for January-March. 

In its exchange filing, the company reported that its net loss for the quarter that ended on 31 March dropped from Rs 218 crore to Rs 29 crore, compared to the loss during the same time the previous year. However, the company’s net loss widened sequentially, as opposed to the net loss of Rs 16.51 crore in the December quarter.

The deficit experienced in the current quarter marks the fifth straight quarter of losses. The cement firm was able to lessen its loss in spite of falling cement prices by maintaining stricter cost management.

Revenue from operations during the quarter stood at Rs 1,245.38 crore, marking a 14.7% year-on-year decline from Rs 1,460.47 crore in Q4FY23.

The filing added, “With the improved sales volume, India Cements Ltd could turn out a better operating performance and pared the losses for the fourth quarter under review.”

As per the market filing, the company has declared that the reappointment of Chitra Srinivasan as a non-executive director has been accepted by the board. She can retire by rotation beginning on 1 August, 2024.

India Cements stated that, following low capacity utilization in the past two quarters due to financial constraints, the fourth quarter is expected to see an improvement due to the injection of working capital. This resulted in an increase from 51% to 63% in the third quarter of the current year.

Looking ahead, the company expressed optimism that after the Lok Sabha elections and assembly elections in certain states, both the central and state governments will maintain their focus on development. The construction sector is anticipated to experience growth in the upcoming months, driven by ongoing infrastructure spending by the government, as well as private sector investments in housing and commercial projects. India Cements remarked that this positive outlook for cement demand is particularly strong in the southern region, where the industry has sufficient capacity to meet the expected demand.