Ambuja Cements

Ambuja Cements Posts Poor Results

Ambuja Cements posted Q3 results that were below market estimates with EBITDA at Rs.3.6 bn vs. estimates of Rs.4.4 bn and OPM at 13.7 % vs. industry expectations of 17.5 %.

Operating expense per tonne increased 9.9 % QoQ and EBITDA/Tonne was Rs.656 vs. again below market and industry expectations.

Sales volumes were 5.46 Million Tonnes, up 8.5% YoY.

Cement capacity utilization was at 74 % as against 68 % in Q3CY17.

Realization was up 2.1 % YoY.

EBITDA/Tonne was Rs.656 as against Rs.691/ Rs977 in Q3CY17/ Q2CY18.

Operating expense per tonne was up 3.4 % YoY, mainly because of higher energy (higher coal prices) costs, freight costs (increase in diesel prices) and other expenses (higher packaging costs and maintenance expenses).
Most of these factors were on account of the falling Rupee, higher international crude oil prices and higher domestic diesel prices.
Overall ACC seems to have performed better than Ambuja Cements. Both companies are part of the global building materials giant, LafargeHolcim.