Displaying items by tag: Adani Group

India: Adani Group repaid loans worth a total of US$2.65bn on 6 June 2023, with a total interest payment of US$700m. Accord Fintech News has reported that the sum includes prepayment of loans worth US$700m used to acquire Holcim India, alongside other loans. This completes the group's prepayment of loans taken for the acquisition, which it completed in September 2022.

India: Adani Group plans to grow ACC and Ambuja Cements' capacity to 140Mt/yr by 2028 under a joint expansion strategy. The Hindu newspaper has reported that new strategy includes capital expenditure with a value of US$5.58bn and new acquisitions. Investments will reportedly be split equally between the two subsidiaries. After completion of the current growth plan, the cement producers will 'pause for a while' prior to any subsequent expansion phase.

Adani Group said that it is proceeding with an operational merger of ACC and Ambuja Cements, without merging their distinct brands. The priority of the merger will be to increase efficiency in supply chains and logistics operations.

India: Adani Cement subsidiaries ACC and Ambuja Cements have launched the Cement and Concrete Research and Development Facility at Kalamboli in Maharashtra. Dion News Service has reported that the focus of the centre will lie in product development, productivity enhancement and increasing the efficiency of cement and concrete production.

Adani Cement CEO Ajay Kapur said "Our new research and development facility is our reinforcement towards our collective commitment to pushing boundaries, driving innovation, and addressing industry challenges."

India: Indian industrial companies plan to increase their capital expenditure (CAPEX) investments by 14% year-on-year in the current, 2024, financial year, the Financial Express newspaper has reported. UltraTech Cement says that it will more than double its CAPEX investments to US$1.55bn during the year (1 April 2023 - 31 March 2024). Adani Green Energy, the renewable electricity subsidiary of Ambuja Cements' parent company Adani Group, has the highest planned investments of any Indian industrial company. It also plans to more than double its CAPEX spending, to US$1.69bn in the 2024 financial year.

India: Ambuja Cements has placed orders with equipment suppliers for an 8Mt/yr clinker capacity expansion across two of its cement plants. The plants in question are the 2.9Mt/yr Bhatapara cement plant in Chhattisgarh and the 4.5Mt/yr Maratha cement plant in Maharashtra. Ambuja Cements will also build 42MW-worth of waste heat recovery (WHR) power capacity. The new cement capacity will be able to operate on renewable energy and use 50% alternative fuel (AF). As such, upon completion of the project, the plants will together produce 14Mt/yr of Ambuja Cements' reduced-CO₂ Blended Green Cement. The producer will fund the work through internal accruals, and expects to complete it in May 2025.

CEO Ajay Kapur said "These brownfield expansion projects are part of our strategy to double our production capacity over the next five years from the current capacity of 67.5Mt/yr. Our ongoing investments in capacity expansion and sustainability will enable us to achieve our long-term objectives, as we remain committed to delivering sustainable growth and value to our stakeholders."

India: Ambuja Cement’s sales rose by 8.4% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023, to US$520m, from US$483m in the first quarter of 2022. The company’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) declined marginally to US$96.4m. Costs rose by 12% to US$453m from US$404m.

During the quarter under review, Ambuja Cement made a milestone payment on an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract under its planned capacity expansion strategy. It subsequently foreclosed the contract, recovering its US$222m advance, ‘in cognisance’ of on-going investigations into its parent company Adani Group.

Ambuja Cement’s chief executive officer Ajay Kapur said "We are pleased to report another strong performance of Ambuja Cement, which has been driven by our strategic initiatives on business excellence, operational efficiencies and synergies. Our focus on operational excellence and cost optimisation measures has yielded improved profitability. We have been able to maintain our growth trajectory and further strengthen our position in the market. With the rise in construction activities across our markets, we see the continuation of the elevated demand and strong volumes in the coming quarters as well.”

India: Adani Group has reportedly prepaid US$200m-worth of a US$1bn mezzanine loan for its acquisition of Holcim's Indian business in mid-2022. The loan will be due for repayment in September 2024. Bloomberg has reported that the conglomerate hopes that the part prepayment will help it to secure a three-year extension to repayment.

India: ACC has blamed a drop in earnings in the fourth quarter of its financial year on higher fuel prices. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 15% year-on-year to US$71.9m in the quarter that ended in March 2023 from US$64.7m in the same period in 2022. However, it said that fuel prices were expected to drop due to synergies with other subsidiaries within Adani Group. It is also working on reducing operational costs by reducing its clinker factor, logistics costs and growing sales of blended cement products. It added that it had reduced its kiln fuel cost by 10% in the fourth quarter by taking the measures mentioned above and by increasing its use of alternative fuels.

The company changed its financial year to one ending in March 2023 during the reporting period. Its calculated net revenue rose by 10% year-on-year to US$2.16bn for its 2023 financial year that ended on 31 March 2023 compared to US$1.97bn in the previous 12 months. Its cement and clinker sale volumes grew by 6% to 31Mt from 29Mt.

Ajay Kapur, the chief executive officer of ACC, said “Our transformation journey fuelled by sizeable operational efficiencies, improved synergies and business excellence has led to substantial improvement in our financial performance and overall business indicators. We have a detailed blueprint on each of the cost factors and initiatives to reduce and improve.”

India: ACC’s Jamul, Thondebhavi and Tikaria cement plants have won safety prizes at the National Safety Council of India (NSCI)’s Safety, Health and Environment Convention (SHECON) 2023. Press in attendance reported that the 1.6Mt/yr Thondebhavi plant in Karnataka won a safety award and a bronze trophy for implementation of its occupational safety and health (OSH) plan. Meanwhile, the 1.6Mt/yr Jamul plant in Chhattisgarh won a letter of commendation and the 3Mt/yr Tikaria grinding plant in Uttar Pradesh won a certificate of recognition.

Adani Group’s cement business CEO Ajay Kapur said "We are honoured to have been recognised by the NSCI with three prestigious awards for our commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of our employees, and we are proud to be recognised for our efforts. With a strong emphasis on occupational health and safety, we have a robust safety management system in place."

India: Adani Group is legally ‘paving the way’ for an eventual merger of its cement subsidiaries ACC and Ambuja Cements into Adani Cement. The Hindu BusinessLine News has reported that the merger is not likely to reach completion before April 2024.

Adani Group holds a 63% stake in Ambuja Cements, which in turn holds a 50% in ACC. Adani Group additionally holds a 6.7% direct stake in ACC.