India's Prism Johnson swings to Q1 profit on strong cement demand

Prism Johnson

02/08/2023 08:51

BENGALURU, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Indian building materials
maker Prism Johnson  PRIS.NS  swung to a profit in the first
quarter on the back of strong demand for cement and declining
input costs. 
    Consolidated profit after tax was 207.6 million rupees 
($2.5 million) in the three months ended June 30, compared with
a loss of 160.1 million rupees a year earlier. 
    Demand for cement has been rising following increased
government spending on infrastructure projects, analysts say. 
    Prism's revenue from the cement segment, which accounts for
more than half of its total revenue, rose over 18%. 
    Meanwhile, raw material costs declined over 6%, while its
power and fuel expenses fell nearly 7%.
    Some cement makers ACC  ACC.NS  and Ultratech Cement
 ULTC.NS  reported an increase in profit for April-June, while
others like Dalmia Bharat  DALB.NS  and Orient Cement  ORCE.NS 
saw a profit decline on mounting input costs. 
    Prism Johnson's net sales rose nearly 7% to 19.04 billion
rupees. 
    
($1 = 82.5275 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Varun Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann
Thoppil)
 ((varunvyas.hebbalalu@thomsonreuters.com;))