The company has conducted a conference call on 21 May 2019 to discuss the financial performance for the fourth quarter ended March 2019, FY19, and way forward. The call was addressed by Mr A. K. Saraogi, President (Corporate Affairs) & CFO and Mr Prashant Seth, VP (Commercial), of the company.

• The company reported 55% rise in net profit to Rs 150 crore for the Q4FY19 on the back of 13% jump in revenue to Rs 1492 crore. EBITDA margin improved 510 bps to 19% in Q4FY9. For the FY19, the company's net profit declined 5% to Rs 325 crore despite 5% jump in revenue from operation to Rs 4981 crore. EBITDA margin fell 30 bps to 16.47%. The board recommended a dividend of Rs 10 per equity share for FY19. The company has also decided to raise up to Rs 500 crore by issue of secured/redeemable non-convertible debentures in one of more series/tranches. 

• The Company trade and non-trade mix stood at 68:32 in Q4FY19. The Company is judiciously trying to increase the company's presence in the trade segment  

• The Company cement & clinker sales volume increased 5% to 98.51 lakh tone in FY19. Grey cement volume gain was because of the increased push in non-trade segment. 

• The Company has saved Rs 50/tonne in logistics after initiative suggested by the appointed consultant and expects further saving to the tune of Rs 20-25/tonne in subsequent quarters. The Company higher usage of AFR (10% in FY19) resulted in Rs 25 crore saving in FY19. The Company targets a meaningful Rs 60-70 crore annual savings by modification in power units and thereby energy savings and earn incentives. 

• The company has taken Rs 35-40/bag of price hikes in the first two months of Q1FY20. The company demand for cement was weak in the respective months due to pre-election lull and shortage of labor. The company witnessed a 15-20% fall in sales in the month of elections. The company expects 7-8% volume growth for the industry in FY2020 and expects demand to pick up post elections. 

• The UAE operation of the Company has sold 0.25 mt of cement and 0.1 mt of clinker in CY18. Revenue, EBITDA and PAT in CY18 came at AED138 million, AED4.7 million and net loss AED37 million, respectively. For Q1CY19, Cement Production: 0.07 mt; Clinker production; 0.123 mt; Cement sales volume: 0.063 mt and Clinker sales volume: 0.048. EBITDA stood at AED3.3 million. 

• The Company work for 7,500 TPD clinker production line in Mangrol and Split Grinding Units at Aligarh & Balsinor is going on in full swing. Environment clearance for Balasinor unit obtained in Mar'19. The Company 1 MTPA cement grinding capacity each at Nimbahera and Mangrol is in advance stage, which is likely to commission in June-July 2019. The Company has already spent ~Rs550 crore in FY19 out of total capex of Rs 2000 crore, while it will incur Rs 1200 crore capex in FY20 and the balance is to be incurred in FY21. Notably, the proposed outlay does not include annual maintenance capex of Rs100 crore.  

• The Company has already started working on for next line of expansion in the Central region. It is currently in the process of converting 2 prospecting license (PL) into mining lease in Madhya Pradesh. It has already acquired 250 acres of mining area and 300 acres of land for plants till date. It has also applied for Environment Clearance for Kakra (MP) mining lease having an estimated limestone reserve of >400 mt. The expansion would be in multiple phases and will take 18-20 months from the zero date post-board approval. 

• The Company also has plans to debottleneck kiln number 3 in future by replacing the pre-heater, raw mill and coal mill. This would increase the clinker output from 5,000 tons to 6,000 tons per day, reduce power consumption by 12 units of power and consume 40-50 kcal/kg lower fuel. The planned investment is Rs 325 crore. The company shall also be eligible to tax benefits under SGST scheme in the state of Rajasthan where the cement is sold. The project shall be completed by FY2021 and shall have annual benefits of Rs 60-70 crore along with additional 1,000 tons of cement volumes a month. Kiln number 3 will be shut for ~45-60 days during the upgradation.