India: UltraTech Cement, an Aditya Birla Group company, has reported a net profit of US$112m for the last three months of 2012, a drop of 3% compared to US$115m in the same period in 2011. The company blamed subdued demand and higher costs caused by increases in railway freight and diesel prices. Net sales for the quarter rose by 6% to US$904m from US$850m.
During the quarter, UltraTech reported that imported coal cost around US$100/t but that the benefit of this low price was partly offset by the depreciation in the Indian Rupee. New clinker plants at Chhattisgarh and Karnataka are expected to be operational by early 2013-2014 and will add 9.2Mt/yr to UltraTech's capacity. Once completed UltraTech's total capacity will reach 62Mt/yr.
In its outlook, the company said that the surplus scenario in the industry is likely to continue over the next three years. "Input costs are likely to increase in line with general inflation with margins remaining range bound,'' the company said.