India: The India Cements Ltd has reported a net loss of US$1.87m for the quarter that ended on 31 December 2014 against a marginal profit of US$674 in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Total income from operations stood at US$167m for the quarter, up marginally from US$166m in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Vice chairman and managing director N Srinivasan said that the increased net plant realisation helped it to offset the cost increase and drop in sales volume. Consequently, earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation (EBIDTA) improved to US$26.2m compared to US$23.4m during the same period of the prior year quarter. Srinivasan said that cement demand in the south of India had been almost flat. In this context, he pointed to capacity utilisation, which stood at 56% in the third quarter of 2015, as against 63% in the same quarter of the previous year.

The board of directors of The India Cements also reappointed Rupa Gurunath as wholetime director for a further five years with effect from 5 March 2015, subject to necessary approvals.