New Delhi, August 04, 2015 – Orient Cement Limited, a part of USD 1.6 billion diversified CK Birla Group, announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2015. The company has recorded profit before tax (PBT) of Rs. 46.52 crore for the quarter, a 12% dip from the corresponding quarter last year. The year on year volume de-drew by 10% and the price realisation from the preceding quarter has dropped by over 8%, largely caused by drop in Maharashtra volumes and realisation. The net EBITDA for the quarter is down 10% compared to same quarter last year.
The company expects the demand to pick-up in the coming quarters starting around Diwali, 2015 when the construction labour starts reporting back after the festivals. Additionally, an increased spending in rural and semi-urban housing and improvement in orders from infrastructure projects is also expected to boost demand.
Deepak Khetrapal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Orient Cement said, “Q1FY16 has been a difficult quarter for the Industry, with markets in West and North struggling to register any demand momentum. Low demand and low capacity utilization has put further pressure on the prices. We continue to focus on cost optimization and increasing our efficiency in power and fuel consumption, freight cost etc. The Karnataka Government has granted us the mining lease for our upcoming Greenfield facility in Gulbarga which is now being prepared for commissioning within the next 4-6 weeks.”
About the CK Birla Group
The CK Birla Group is a US$1.6 billion diversified conglomerate that over the years has developed a strong footprint in manufacturing, engineering, technology, hospitals and education. With over 20,000 employees, 27 manufacturing facilities and a customer base that includes some of the world’s best-known companies, CK Birla Group’s businesses are present across five continents.
The Group’s companies operate in the sectors of Technology and Automotive, Home and Building, and Healthcare and Education. Companies in the Technology and Automotive cluster comprise AVTEC, Birlasoft, GMMCO, NEI and Neosym. These companies are leaders in manufacturing products for the automotive and related industries globally. The Group’s manufacturing capability is further strengthened through its Home and Building solutions companies: HIL, Orient Cement, Orient Electric and Orient Paper. These companies manufacture everyday usage products like paper, fans, kitchen and home appliances, building materials like cement, low weight blocks and panels, pipes and fibre roofing sheets.
CK Birla Group also has two hospitals in Kolkata: CMRI, a multi-specialty hospital with and BM Birla Heart Research Centre, the first NABH-accredited research and treatment centre for heart disease. The CK Birla Group has a presence in the Education sector through the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, Modern High School for Girls, Kolkata and Rukmani Birla Modern High School, Jaipur.
The CK Birla Group is deeply committed to creating sustainable positive impact. The Group allocates significant resources to philanthropic initiatives; including those in science and technology, art and culture, and heritage preservation. The Group also works to improve the livelihoods of rural and underprivileged communities.
For more information visit us at www.ckbirlagroup.com
About Orient Cement
Orient Cement Limited is part of USD 1.6 billion diversified CK Birla Group. Earlier a division of the multi-product, multi-unit Orient Paper and Industries Limited, Orient Cement has recently de-merged and become a public limited company. The company produces 5MTPA cement annually from its two plants in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Its first Greenfield project at Devapur in Adilabad District, Andhra Pradesh began cement production in the year 1982. In the year 1997, a split-grinding unit (also a Greenfield project) at Nashirabad, in Jalgaon, Maharashtra was added.
Orient Cement is certified for both ISO 9001:2008, and ISO 14001:2004 and also OHSAS 18001:2007 from Det Norske Veritas, Netherlands. The company sells cement under its popular brand Birla A1 Premium Cement in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and parts of Tamil Nadu, Chattisgarh, Gujarat and MP.
Media contact:
Priyanka Sachdeva; +91 7838311985; priyanka.sachdeva@bm.com
Shankar Radhakrishnan; +919999384812; Shankar.Radhakrishnan@bm.com