MUMBAI, JANUARY 19: Cement giant Associated Cement Companies (ACC), hit badly by a sharp drop in price realisation in the eastern and southern markets, has slumped into the red reporting a net loss of Rs 19.79 crore during the third quarter ended December 31, 1999, against a profit of Rs 34.02 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.As a result of its lacklustre performance in the third quarter, ACC reported a loss of Rs 9.96 crore during the nine-month period ended December 31, 1999. The company had recorded a net profit of Rs 55.12 crore during the same period of the previous fiscal."Although there has been a robust demand growth in recent months, the prices are still very depressed in the eastern and southern regions. While 37 per cent of our total sales is in the east, another 34 per cent caters the southern markets. Our problems are mainly due to the higher weightage in these markets," said a senior ACC official."Despite over 5.8 per cent growth in sales volume during the quarter ended December 31, 1999 as compared to the corresponding period of previous year, there has been a decline in price realisation of around 4.7 per cent during the same period," the company said in a statement. Besides, losses during the last quarter increased due to the higher provision for depreciation at Rs 31.59 crore, compared to Rs 26.17 crore last year.Net sales during September-December was, however, higher at Rs 662.06 crore, up from Rs 633.58 crore during the same period last fiscal. Other income at Rs 9.69 crore (service tax refunds) was lower than last year (Rs 46.33 crore).Total expenditure during the third quarter increased to Rs 626.53 crore, from Rs 579.22 crore last year. Interest charges were, however, lower at Rs 41.25 crore, as against Rs 43.65 crore, while provision for depreciation increased from Rs 26.17 crore to Rs 31.59 crore during the period."For ACC, the problems have essentially been at the market place. The company has, however, been able to contain costs despite sharp rise in freight," the company official said. During the third quarter, the cost increase per tonne has been around 2 per cent.During September-December last year, ACC sold 2.63 million tonnes of cement, against 2.50 million tonnes in the same quarter of the previous year. Volume sales during the first three quarters increased to 7.68 million tonnes, from 7.03 million tonnes in the same period of 1998-99.Sekhsaria is deputy chairman of ACCMUMBAI: Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd (GACL) managing director N Sekhsaria was today appointed deputy chairman of the board of directors of ACC. This follows Gujarat Ambuja's acquisition of 7.2 per cent stake in ACC from certain Tata group companies on December 21, 1999.The board of directors at its last meeting on December 27, 1999 appointed N Sekhsaria and A L Kapur (whole-time director of GACL) as directors on the ACC board. The Tata group of companies had retained the right to sell the balance of their holdings (7.2 per cent) to GACL.
