Mumbai: Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd (GACL) has performed very well during the second quarter ending December 2002.

During this quarter (October-December 2002), the company has sold 23.02 lakh tonnes of cement as against 18.02 lakh tonnes in the second quarter of the previous year, an increase of 28 per cent. The turnover is up at Rs 486.98 crore as against Rs 399.19 crore, an increase of 22 per cent.

High productivity and further reduction in costs have helped the company to post good results despite low cement prices prevailing during the quarter. The company made an operating profit of Rs 135.62 crore as against Rs 121.05 crore. The interest expenses have remained unchanged at Rs 26.11 crore as against Rs 26.13 crore, in spite of the commissioning of a cement plant at Chandrapur costing over Rs 700 crore.

Depreciation has gone up to Rs 43.90 crore (due to the new cement plant at Chandrapur) as against Rs 33.73 crore. The profit before tax is Rs 65.61 crore as against Rs 61.19 crore. After providing Rs 9.15 crore for the current and deferred tax (as against Rs 10.75 crore in the previous year’s second quarter), the profit after tax is Rs 56.46 crore as against Rs 50.44 crore, an increase of 12 per cent.

In a recent global survey conducted by Financial Times, London, GACL has been placed among the world’s most respected companies in the property and construction sector. GACL is the only other cement company apart from Lafarge to be placed in this coveted position.

Ambuja Cement Eastern Ltd, the subsidiary company of GACL, has performed very well during the quarter October-December 2002. It made a net profit of Rs 7.46 crore during the quarter against a loss of Rs 5.39 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year on a turnover of Rs 86.80 crore (previous period: Rs 89.53 crore).

Similarly, Ambuja Cement Rajasthan Ltd, an associate company, has also put up a good performance. It has been able to earn a cash profit of Rs 5.26 crore against a cash loss of Rs 4.11 crore. It posted a marginal loss of Rs 1.08 crore (against a loss of Rs 10.36 crore). It is expected to improve its performance further and post a net profit in the near future.

The demand for cement in the country continues to grow very well and for the 12 months ending December 2002, the cement despatches were 109.26 million tonnes as against 98.49 million tonnes, an increase of 11 per cent. With the road construction programme now at full speed, ditto the continued good demand for housing, it is expected that demand for cement would continue to be very good, says GACL whole-time director Anil Singhvi.