ACC announces increased profits

“The highlight of the year was strong cost saving measures, especially on fuel flexibility and raw materials,” said Neeraj Akhoury, ACC’s Managing Directory and CEO. “Focusing on our high-quality, high-performance product portfolio played an important role on the overall performance for the year.”

Sales of ACC’s premium products increased 27% over the year, despite falling sales overall.

Meanwhile, a 1% fall in operating cost per tonne, driven by fuel and raw material optimization, helped to offset a fall in earnings from INR15.4 billion in 2015 to INR14.2 billion in 2016, resulting in the rise in pre-tax profits.

The company also commissioned its new cement grinding unit an Sindri in Jharkhand in October 2016, completing a project with new clinkering capacity of 2.79 million t. “The new units will strengthen the company’s market presence, especially in the eastern region,” ACC said.

Looking ahead, the company expected the Indian economy to show solid growth in the months to come as the slowdown seen after the introduction of the government’s demonetisation policy eases.

ACC was also positive on measure announced in the recent budge, which included increased spending on infrastructure, housing, roads, railways and irrigation. According to the company, these are “expected to further reinvigorate the construction sector soon and boost demand for cement and concrete during 2017.”

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/indian-subcontinent/07022017/acc-announces-increased-profits/