Ramco Cements reported an 19% fall in quarterly profit on Tuesday as a rise in fuel, power and other input costs outpaced demand at the Indian cement maker. Net profit after tax for Chennai, Tamil Nadu-based Ramco fell to 673.9 million rupees ($8.15 million) for the third quarter ended Dec. 31, from 825.7 million rupees, a year earlier, according to an exchange filing.
Total expenses climbed 33% to 19.21 billion rupees, led by an increase in power and fuel costs, while the company posted a 29% growth in sale of products. Ramco sold products worth 19.91 billion rupees in the reported quarter.
Higher global petcoke and coal prices, as well as power and fuel expenses that had crimped margins for cement producers in the second quarter had a lingering impact on their bottomline for the reported quarter as well.
Ramco’s rival and India’s top cement maker UltraTech Cement NSE -0.78 % also last month reported a 38% slump in profit for the December quarter due to a surge in expenses.