Ultratech Cement profit dips 11.3% to ₹725.90 cr on higher expenses

Ultratech Cement on Monday reported a decline of 11.31% in its consolidated net profit to ₹725.90 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2017 on account of higher expenses.

The firm, a part of the Aditya Birla Group, had clocked a net profit of ₹818.56 crore in the January-March period a year-ago, Ultratech said in a BSE filing.

Total income of the company was up 4.12% to ₹8,164.72 crore during the quarter under review against ₹7,841.05 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal. Its total expenses rose 14.33% to ₹7,710.32 crore compared to ₹6,743.85 crore.

“Domestic grey cement sales were 47.62 million tonnes for the full year and 13.35 million tonnes for fourth quarter of FY17. White cement and wall care putty recorded sales of 13.18 lakh million tonnes during FY17 and 3.86 lakh million tonnes for the quarter ended on March 31, 2017,” the company said.

For the financial year ended on March 31, 2017, Ultratech Cement’s net profit was up 9.55% to ₹2,714.92 crore against ₹2,478.04 crore of FY16. For 2016-17, Ultratech Cement’s total income was up 1.52% to ₹29,294.05 crore from ₹28,855.39 crore in the year-ago period.

It further informed that its board in a meeting held on Monday recommended a dividend of 100%, at the rate of ₹10 per share of face value of ₹10 each, aggregating to ₹274.51 crore.