Calcutta, April 26: UltraTech Cement plans to invest Rs 11,000 crore in the next three years in capacity expansion that will involve setting up plants in various parts of the country.
“These (capital expenditure) include setting up of additional clinkerisation plants in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, together with grinding units, bulk packaging terminals and ready mix concrete plants. Orders have been placed for major equipment required for setting up the projects,” the Aditya Birla group company said in a statement.
Expected to be operational from early 2013-14 fiscal, the projects will increase the total capacity of the cement manufacturer by 9.2 million tonnes per annum. At present, UltraTech has 11 integrated plants, 15 grinding units and five terminals with a production capacity of 52 million tonnes per year.
Aided by government initiatives in rural development, infrastructure and housing, UltraTech expects the cement sector to grow at 8.5 per cent this year.
“The pricing environment may remain challenging and with the impact of surplus capacity, margins continue to remain under pressure,” UltraTech said.
Cement sector demand grew at 5.3 per cent in fiscal year 2010-11. UltraTech said the growth was lowest in 10 years, mainly because of subdued growth on the back of lower infrastructure spending, slowdown in real estate sector, extended monsoon and non-availability of railway wagons.
UltraTech has reported a fourth quarter (ended March 31, 2011) standalone net profit of Rs 726.77 crore compared with Rs 228.54 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.
Standalone net sales for the quarter were Rs 4,490.13 crore against Rs 1,909.35 crore a year ago.
The board of directors has recommended a dividend of Rs 6 per equity share with a face value of Rs 10.
After the announcement of the results, UltraTech shares rose 2.43 per cent to Rs 1,060.65 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
ACC earnings
Cement manufacturer ACC Limited has reported a drop of 10.87 per cent in consolidated net profit for the January-March quarter.
Net profit for the quarter stood at Rs 350.17 crore against Rs 392.88 crore registered in the same quarter of the previous year.
