Tight grip on costs aids Dalmia Bharat; over to price trends now

Nobody expects the moon from earnings of cement manufacturers in the seasonally weak September quarter. But this time around, falling operating costs have brought immense respite for Dalmia Bharat Ltd. At a time when consolidated operating revenue increased by 6% year-on-year, Ebitda increased by as much as 55% to ₹589 crore, ahead of Street expectations. On a per-tonne basis, Ebitda rose by 45% year-on-year, as operating expenses hit a multi-quarter low of ₹4,129 in Q2FY24.

- Harsha Jethmalani

Freight costs were lower than expected. The management attributed the fall in freight cost per tonne to lower lead distance and removal of the busy rail season surcharge during August and September. Plus, an increase in the share of renewable energy in the overall energy consumption helped.