Sagar Cements’ net down 77 pc at Rs 4 cr

Sagar Cements Ltd’s net profit declined 77 per cent at Rs 4.1 crore in the first quarter compared to Rs 18.1 crore in the year-ago period. The revenue (net sales) of the Hyderabad-based company almost remained flat at about Rs 150 crore. “The operating environment for cement companies thus far has been challenging. With increasing power and fuel costs, margins are being impacted,” Mr Sreekanth Reddy, Executive Director, Sagar Cements said in a release. During the quarter, the plant operated at reasonable utilisation levels, producing about 3.30 lakh tonnes of clinker and 4.05 lakh tonnes of cement. The clinker utilisation level was 60 per cent. The volumes of cement production were lower by about 1.5 per cent compared to last year. Sagar Cements’ stock gained by 2.37 per cent to end at Rs 181.60 on the BSE on Wednesday.