Revenue from operations for the quarter under review rose 6.2% YoY to Rs 2,105 crore. In the same quarter last year, revenue came in at Rs 1,988 crore. EBITDA remained largely unchanged at Rs 279 crore, while operating margin contracted to 13.3% from 14% a year earlier.
Average cement prices declined 6% QoQ during the quarter, sharper than the expected 4% drop. Trade cement prices fell 8% in the South and 9% in the East compared with the September 2025 exit levels.
Raw material costs increased following the imposition of a mineral bearing land tax of Rs 160 per tonne of limestone in Tamil Nadu, resulting in an impact of about Rs 47 crore in Q3FY26. Power and fuel costs rose by Rs 27 per tonne YoY and Rs 59 per tonne sequentially due to higher fuel prices. However, a higher share of green power at around 47%, compared with 39% last year, helped partly cushion the increase.
Also Read | Quant MF cuts gold, silver exposure near peak levels in multi-asset fund
Other expenses moved higher due to increased brand promotion spending for the construction chemicals segment as well as higher repairs and maintenance costs. Net debt declined during the period, supported by asset monetisation.
On the capex front, the company incurred Rs 823 crore during the first nine months of FY26, including Rs 222 crore in the December quarter. Full-year FY26 capex is now estimated at Rs 1,100 crore, revised from the earlier estimate of Rs 1,200 crore. Installed capacity currently stands at 27.44 million tonnes and is expected to increase to 31.14 million tonnes by March 2027.Further, the company plans to achieve cement capacity of 31 MTPA by Mar-27 with de-bottlenecking of capacities and brownfield expansion of a second line in Kolimigundla along with WHRS capacity of 15 MW. The company has so far acquired 59% of mining land and 13% of factory land for its proposed new greenfield project in Karnataka.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)