ACC sells refractory unit to ICICI arm

As part of its plan to exit from non-core businesses, cement major ACC Ltd has sold off its refractory business to ICICI Venture Funds for a...

As part of its plan to exit from non-core businesses, cement major ACC Ltd has sold off its refractory business to ICICI Venture Funds for a consideration of Rs 257 crore.

Announcing this at the annual general meeting of the company here on Wednesday, ACC chairman Tarun Das said the company wanted to focus only on cement, its core business, and would gradually exit from all other non-core activities. The refractory business of ACC witnessed a 36 per cent growth in 2004-05 and had brought in a revenue of Rs 224.4 crore for the company.

For ICICI Venture, this is the second major initiative in the corporate sector.

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Dr Reddy’s Lab earlier formalised a $56-million (Rs 245 crore) agreement with ICICI Venture Funds for the development and commercialisation of generic drugs filed in the US in 2004-05 and

2005-06.

Following its deal with the Swiss cement major Holcim, ACC has changed its fiscal year to January 1-December 31. Hence, the current financial year for the company will be for a period of nine months, between April 2005-December 2005.

Holcim and Ambuja Cements India jointly hold 34.71 per cent stake in ACC.

‘‘The Holcim-ACC-Ambuja tie-up will only help us perform better,’’ Das said, reassuring the shareholders.

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The company has also charted out a Rs 600 crore capital expenditure plan to expand capacity across its manufacturing facilities. ACC also plans to export 100,000 tonnes of cement this year to countries like Nepal and Bangladesh.

Markus Akermann, CEO, Holcim, who was inducted into the board of ACC, said that the Swiss major would help ACC in de-bottlenecking projects and provide technological support in the company’s new ventures.

The cement industry recorded a growth rate of around 11 per cent for Q1 2005-06 compared with 2.7 per cent in the corresponding previous period.

‘‘With the continued emphasis on infrastructure and housing sector and the growth momentum witnessed in the first quarter of 2005-06, it is expected to do better in future,’’ the company said in a notice to the stock exchanges.

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The projected demand growth of around 8 per cent with no new significant capacity addition in the pipeline should lead to stable to improved cement prices.

Growth in infrastructure spend boosts Q1 profit

MUMBAI: The growth in infrastructure spend and high prices had a positive impact on the company’s first quarter performance. For the quarter ended June 2005, ACC has posted a 72 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 139.3 crore as against Rs 81.2 crore in the first quarter of the previous year. The company’s sales revenue for the quarter was at Rs 1128.2 crore compared with Rs 947.9 crore in the first quarter of the previous year, posting a growth of 19 per cent. ENS

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