Tag: India Cements

CNBC-TV18 Newsbreak Confirmed: India Cements says ED officials visited Chennai office

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India Cements Ltd. informed the exchanges that certain officials of the Enforcement Directorate visited the company’s Corporate Office in Chennai between January 31 and February 1, 2024, thereby confirming a CNBC-TV18 newsbreak.

The company further said that the ED officials conducted a search to find out if any irregularities concerning FEMA violations.

“We have provided / undertaken to provide all the clarification / documents sought by them,” the company said.

Earlier in the day, CNBC-TV18 had reported citing sources that the Enforcement Directorate was carrying out searches at the offices of India Cements in Chennai.

The sources further said that a search was underway at the India Cements offices for alleged FEMA violations.

Based on the December quarter shareholding pattern, veteran investor and promoter of Avenue Supermarts Radhakishan Damani, along with his brother Gopikishan Damani hold close to 21% stake in India Cements.

Meanwhile, the company announced its third-quarter results. It reported a consolidated net loss of ₹6.58 crore for the third quarter ended December 2023 against a net profit of ₹111.22 crore in the year-ago period.

Revenue from operations was at ₹1,144.46 crore during the period under review against ₹1,281 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Total expenses were ₹1,214.15 crore.

Shares of the company settled 7.21% lower at ₹242.50 apiece on BSE.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India Cements Q2 results: Net loss at ₹81 crore; revenue falls 2.6%

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India Cements Ltd on Wednesday, November 1, reported a standalone net loss of ₹81 crore for the second quarter ended September 2023. The company had posted a net loss of ₹137.6 crore during the July-September quarter of the previous fiscal.

The Chennai-based cement manufacturing company’s revenue from operations was down 2.6% at ₹1,222 crore in the second quarter of this fiscal. The same stood at ₹1,254.6 crore a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) stood at ₹8 crore as against a loss of ₹91.3 crore in the same period a year ago, while the operating margin came in at 0.65%.

The Board has appointed VM Mohan as an Additional Director with effect from November 1, 2023, Krishna Srivastava as a Non-executive Independent Director of the company for three years with effect from today.

It has also approved the reappointment of Krishnan Skandan as a Non-executive Independent Director of the company for a second and final term of three years with effect from January 27, 2024.

Also, Sanjay Shantilal Patel has been reappointed as a non-executive Independent Director of the company for a second and final term of three years with effect from April 3, 2024.

Shares of India Cements were trading at ₹208.25 on NSE, down nearly half-a-percent from its previous close.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India Cements post net loss of Rs 75.3 crore in June quarter, revenue at Rs 1,393 crore misses estimate

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Cement maker India Cements registered a net loss of Rs 75.3 crore for the April to June 2023 quarter, marginally lower than the CNBC-TV18 poll projection of Rs 79 crore, the firm’s financial results showed on August 7.

On a sequential basis, however, the company’s loss due to irregular monsoon and high raw material costs was lower than Rs 218 crore in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2022-23. On an year-on-year basis, this however, was against a profit of Rs 76.09 crore in the June 2022 ended quarter.

India Cements’ revenue came in at Rs 1,393 crore, about four percent lower than the Rs 1,452 crore prediction of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18. At this level, the revenue from operations is 4.6 percent lower than the Rs 1,460 crore in the previous quarter while the decline was 3.6 percent when compared on a year-on-year basis.

The cement maker’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) was recorded at Rs 5 crore, a significant 64 percent lower than the projection. The firm posted a margin of 0.4 percent for the quarter under review.

Following the first quarter results announcement, India Cements’ shares were trading 3.45 percent lower at Rs 216.85 on BSE at 12:55 pm.

India Cements is primarily engaged in the manufacture and marketing of cement and cement-related products. Subsidiaries and associate companies are mainly engaged in the business of sugar, power, financial services, trading, mining and transportation.

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India Cements Q4: Street disappointed as net loss widens to Rs 218 crore

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India Cements posted a weak performance in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2022-23. The company’s net loss widened to Rs 218 crore compared with Rs 24 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Revenue grew 5 percent year on year to Rs 1,461 crore, while at an operating level, the loss reduced to Rs 45 crore versus Rs 61 crore in the same quarter of last year. The company also noted a one-time loss of Rs 114 crore in fourth quarter.

India Cements is primarily engaged in the manufacture and marketing of cement and cement-related products. Subsidiaries and associate companies are mainly engaged in the business of sugar, power, financial services, trading, mining and transportation.

The Board of Directors has not recommended any dividend for the year 2022-2023. The fourth quarter performance has disappointed the Street and the stock is trading nearly 3 percent lower on the exchanges at 12:30 pm on May 24.

Most players in the cement sector have reported earnings for the fourth quarter and noted a significant increase in the total volume produced. However, the price has not seen much significant change. The cost is expected to remain low despite the strong volumes. Even in the month of May, when prices usually increase, there were no significant changes, and any minor changes have been rolled back.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

UltraTech leads race to acquire MP project from India Cements

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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[wealthdesk shortname=”India Cements” isinid=”INE383A01012″ bseid=”530005″ nseid=”INDIACEM” sector=”Cement – Major” exchange=”nse”]

India’s largest cement producer, UltraTech Cement is the front runner to acquire India Cement’s project in Madhya Pradesh, sources told CNBC Awaaz.

Shares of India Cement gained as much as 7.2 percent in intraday trading to Rs 263.35 after the story was reported.

Sources also mentioned that the company is in talks with JSW Cement, Birla Group, and Adani Group for the sale of the cement plant.

The Madhya Pradesh project with the Limestone mine is valued at nearly Rs 800 crore.

India Cements had earlier planned to build a 3 MTPA integrated plant on 700 acres of land in Madhya Pradesh. In its annual report, the company highlighted that it had purchased 184.53 hectares of limestone-bearing lands and 68.55 acres of land in Madhya Pradesh to set up a cement plant.

In addition, sources also indicated that India Cements is planning to sell its 1.5 MTPA cement plant in Banswara, Rajasthan, at a valuation of Rs 1,500 crore to Rs 2,000 crore. The sales proceeds will be used to cut long-term debt.

As of March 31, 2022, India Cements had net debt worth Rs 3,039.3 crore, according to its annual report.

While JSW Cement offered no comments on the story, CNBC Awaaz is yet to receive comments from India Cements, Birla Group, and the Adani Group.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

I have a job to do and have to do something: N Srinivasan as India Cements mulls price increase

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Cement maker The India Cements Ltd has drawn up plans to increase the price of cement sold per bag by Rs 55 which would be implemented in phases from June, a top official said on Friday.

The city-headquartered company also planned to ‘monetise its assets’ by selling some portion of 26,000 sq ft land owned by the company, which would be used for repayment of debts and for taking up improvements at its manufacturing facilities, India Cements Vice Chairman N Srinivasan said.

“I am increasing the price of cement per bag by Rs 20 on June 1, by another Rs 15 on the 15th of June and another Rs 20 on the first of July,” he told reporters.

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The increase in cement per bag should cover the cost increases the company was facing and the company’s profit and loss account should look better, he said.

Asked about some cement makers planning to cut the retail price of cement per bag, Srinivasan also the managing director said, “please do not compare me with others. See, I have a job to do, my job is chief executive of a cement company. All costs have gone up and I have to do something (to increase the price), otherwise I will lose more money.”

To a query on the increase in the cement price would affect sales, he said it would not affect the sales and as India Cements has a “very good brand pull.”

“It is for two reasons (why it will not affect sales) — one — I give the best quality (of cement) and second — people say I am good manufacturer, I have been there for 75 years and my testimonial is stronger, my brand pull is very good,” he said.

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On the plan to monetise its assets, he said, “what we plan to do is that surplus land we will monetise and use that for two reasons — do our repayments and also to make some improvements in the plants so that my costs go down substantially.”

“I will monetise to an extent. I have to do my repayments. Last year, I repaid Rs 551 crore, this year about Rs 500 crore has to be repaid. I will refinance or repay”, he said.

To execute the monetisation plan, Srinivasan said the company has formed an ‘internal committee’ comprising senior people who would look at the selling of the properties.

“I have put in one group. It is in charge of monetisation. I have told them (to the group), how much money we need, and how much money we need for repayment. We have estimated the money that we need for plant improvement. It is surplus land, whether it is in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu or any place they can sell,” he said.

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He clarified that the company was not planning to sell the assets in ‘distress’ and to ensure that his liquidity was good.

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India Cements shares jump 9% as Damanis hike shareholding in cement maker

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Shares of India Cements jumped as much as 9 percent on Wednesday as marquee investors hike their stakeholding in the cement manufacturer.

On Tuesday, Radhakishan S Damani family, the promoters of retail chain D-Mart, said it has picked up over 62 lakh shares or 1.6 percent stake in India Cements through open market transactions between November 22 and December 20, 2021. With this, their shareholding in the cement company has increased to 22.76 percent from 21.14 percent.

As of September end, the Damani family held 21.14 percent stake in India Cements, shareholding data on BSE showed.

Also Read | Backstory: The India Cements-Raasi takeover battle of the ’90s

India Cements is one of the largest cement producers in South India.

The Chennai-based company had posted a standalone profit for the quarter ending September 30, 2021, at Rs 21.97 crore. The cement maker registered a standalone profit at Rs 71.43 crore during the corresponding quarter last year.

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At 9:36 am, India Cements shares were trading 5.7 percent higher at Rs 186.7 on BSE. The stock opened with a gap up gain of about 5 percent today. It has been rising for the last two days and has risen more than 9 percent during that period.

The stock has been highly volatile today with an intraday volatility of nearly 75 percent, according to the Markets Mojo website.

As per the website, the delivery volume of 4.19 lakh on Tuesday has risen by 0.2 percent against the 5-day average delivery volume.

Delivery volume is usually considered an effective tool for carrying out a thorough analysis of a stock. Higher delivery volume in a stock suggests higher investor confidence.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Damanis increase stake in India Cements to 22.76% from 21.14%

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Radhakishan S Damani family, the promoters of retail chain D-Mart, on Tuesday said it has picked up over 62 lakh shares or 1.6 percent stake in India Cements through open market purchases between November 22 and December 20, 2021,  raising stake to 22.76 percent from 21.14 percent.

Radhakishan Damani and his family collectively held 21.14 percent stake in India Cements as on September 30, 2021. In February 2020, Gopikishan Shivkishan Damani, along Radhakishan Shivkishan Damani, had together acquired 22.52 million equity shares or 7.27 percent stake of India Cements. They later increased their stake above 20 percent in the company.

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As of September 30, 2021, Radhakishan Damani held 11.34 percent stake in India Cements. Gopikishan Damani held 8.46 percent, while Radhakishan Damani and Gopikishan Damani combined held 1.34 percent stake in the company, shareholding pattern data shows.

India Cements had posted a standalone profit for the quarter ending September 30, 2021 at Rs 21.97 crore. The Chennai-based company registered a standalone profit at Rs 71.43 crore during the corresponding quarter last year.

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For the six-month period ending September 30, 2021, the standalone net stood at Rs 59.39 crore against Rs 88.39 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. For the six-month period ending September 30, 2021, the standalone net stood at Rs 59.39 crore against Rs 88.39 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Backstory: The India Cements-Raasi takeover battle of the ’90s

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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In 1997 Raasi Cements was a small, low-cost producer of cement, with cash flow problems. Given its relative size, it was potentially an acquisition target in a period marked by feverish mergers and acquisition activity in the Indian cement industry. Among those most active was the Southern giant India Cements Ltd. (ICL).

Not surprisingly, before any other company could get a sniff of Raasi, ICL under N Srinivasan appeared at its doors with an offer of Rs 300 per share. ICL was in the process of consolidating its leadership position in the growing Southern market against competition from companies like Gujarat Ambuja and Grasim. While Raasi wasn’t competition for ICL, it would often dump the cement in the market which would put cost pressure on larger players like ICL.

ICL’s offer was generous, but Raasi founder BV Raju, who had a 32 percent stake in the company he had set up in 1978, was not impressed and held out. But unknown to him, two years ago one of his three sons-in-law, NKP Raju had already sold his 4 percent stake to Srinivasan. ICL also kept buying more shares in the market such that by early 1998 it had nearly 18 percent stake in the target company. In February that year, Srinivasan made an open offer for another 20 percent share of Raasi at an unbeatable price of Rs 300 per share, almost 70 percent above the Rs 174 at which the stock was then trading. Very few shareholders could turn down the bonanza. ICL picked up the 2.13 percent stake held by the state-owned Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation (APIDC) as well as another 1.40 percent from a local stockbroker. At that price, a counteroffer from Raju also looked difficult unless he could find a white knight. That wasn’t happening.

In the meantime, Srinivasan was also active in the financial circles in Mumbai where he impressed upon the institutions with positions in Raasi, how the acquisition was value accretive for the investors. He was only partially successful since Unit Trust of India which had a 10 percent stake in Raasi refused to sell.

Sensing this, Srinivasan kept a line of communication open with Raju while also ensuring complete compliance with the new takeover code.

Finally, in March 1998, at a price of Rs 286, Raju agreed to transfer his shareholding, giving India Cements a controlling 52 percent stake in his company. For Raju and the other shareholders it was a massive premium on the Rs 160 price that the share was trading at by the time the takeover battle had reached its culmination. The acquisition made India Cements the second-largest cement company in the country, after ACC.

With his share from the sale, Raju went on to set up the Sri Vishnu Educational Society and the BV Raju Institute of Technology with campuses across the state.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow