“Both India Cements and Kesoram have fully migrated into the UltraTech brand. Cost improvements are underway, and the FY27 P&L will start reflecting the benefits of this investment,” chief financial officer Atul Daga said on Wednesday.
The Aditya Birla Group company is the largest producer of cement in the country with an installed capacity of more than 200 million tonnes. The brand conversion for India Cements and Kesoram was completed in March, and the two assets currently represent around 13% of the company’s consolidated capacity. “As the cost improvement capex matures, they will be a meaningful and growing source of growth level Ebitda accretion,” Daga said on a call post the company’s quarterly earnings.
The brand conversion also contributed to UltraTech bettering realisations made on each tonne of cement sold both on a sequential and a year-on-year basis.
The company’s consolidated profit for the March quarter was, in fact, at an all-time high of ₹3,000 crore, while net sales grew 12% on year to ₹25,467 crore. Profit before interest, depreciation and taxation (PBIDT) was also at an all-time high of ₹5,688 crore, while the operating PBIDT made on each tonne of cement stood at ₹1,253. Operating margin expanded to 22%, a 200-basis point improvement year-on-year.
For fiscal 2026, UltraTech’s net sales rose 17% on year to ₹87,384 crore, while consolidated PBIDT rose 32% to an all-time high ₹17,598 crores. Consolidated profit stood at ₹8,188 crore. “We enter fiscal 27 in a stronger strategic position than at any point in our history,” Daga said.
The company will invest ₹10,000 crore annually on capital expenditure for at least the next five years. “Future capex pipeline remains fully funded and the growth story is intact,” he said.
INDIA CEMENTS, KESORAM
India Cements made an operating Ebitda of ₹497 in the March quarter, up from ₹305 in the December quarter, and an operating loss in the March quarter last year.
In April last year, UltraTech had said that the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) per tonne of India Cements would top ₹1,000 by the end of fiscal 2028, with an aim of crossing ₹500 per tonne in fiscal 2026, and ₹800 per tonne in fiscal 2027.
“Price improvements and the real efficiency and integration benefits will start flowing now. It will be one product which is leaving from all the 9 factories of India Cement,” Daga said. “My performance will go up further in terms of earnings potential from India Cements.”
The cement assets of Kesoram are already generating an Ebitda per tonne of ₹1,000.