ACC Limited — Q1 FY26 earnings call

That you are comparing q-on-q while I was referring to y-on-y. In terms of q-on-q also, Rahul, for example, when it was 1263 for the last quarter and with for example, when you have these acquired assets, especially when you have now Orient also, there will be some disruption on the overall say, cost compared to say, March. In March, for example, you did not have Orient and now you have, say, Orient.

Clarified that sequential cost increases were primarily due to the integration of Orient Cement and related disruptions, with expectations of stabilization.

Asked by Mr. Rahul Gupta

So basically what we have done, because so far CLC, which is like clinker plus cement, both were considered but we are not in the business of selling clinker. We are more in the business of cement and therefore like all the other competitors, we also now will move into reporting in terms of factor of cement and therefore, for example, what we have done is also for the March, 18.2 is the cement sale. The difference between cement and clinker at 0.5, primarily is actually for the CLC factor and therefore 18.4 when I am saying is purely a cement sale.

Explained a change in reporting methodology from clinker+cement to purely cement sales, clarifying the reported volume figures.

Asked by Mr. Atishy Rathi

No, no, no. Absolutely not! In fact, as I said, if I adjust, for example, the acquired assets, I am sitting on still a very good healthy volume growth of 13%.

Provided clarity on organic volume growth, indicating a strong 13% growth even after adjusting for recent acquisitions.

Asked by Mr. Harsh Mittal

No, no, per se, not, I mean, like, in fact, we already have this particular company who has, who is the vendor which you are referring to, already, like, a vendor to us for a couple of our other assets. So we do not see any issue on that. This March, what you are indicating is something which is our management target and so far as but..... the outline timing is concerned, we are well on that. I do not see any, per se, any issues over there.

Addressed concerns about project delays and vendor issues, reassuring that timelines are on track and there are no significant problems.

Asked by Mr. Amit Murarka

So Naveen, clinker should be coming to us, you know, let us say, Q2 itself, by the end of September. And so far as then, there are a couple of other assets like Krishnapatnam, which will be there and small CAPEX at Tandur. So these are all actually going well, so far as PENNA assets are concerned.

Provided specific timeline for Penna clinker commissioning (Q2 FY26) and clarified the current cash balance after recent capital allocation activities.

Asked by Mr. Naveen Sahadev

So, Patanjali, thank you. But not very weak, for example. Let us say, yeah, ACC has its own and from beginning if you know, A, the advantage Ambuja has is with respect to the captive coal mine, while ACC is all third-party purchase. So, fuel becomes an important factor. Then in terms of the power cost also because of again the vintage and legacy of ACC, so therefore the power cost also, when I look at it, broadly in case of ACC, it is almost like *6.10 per unit compared to when I look at Ambuja it is say ₹5.30 and on overall it becomes say 5.90 paisa. Then some of the efficiency investment which are in process but Ambuja has a higher WHRS factor, almost21 %, while in case of ACC the WHRS factor is say 14%, one-fourth.

Detailed the specific reasons for ACC's lower profitability compared to Ambuja, citing differences in captive coal, power costs, and WHRS efficiency.

Asked by Mr. Patanjali Srinivasan

So, Ritesh, as you know that given the early set of monsoon which started in June basically, what we have also done is in terms of the scheduled maintenances and, therefore, like Wadi and all, for example, which is ACC, we have actually done that. So, therefore, you will find a bump. Whenever you have scheduled maintenances, you will generally find a bump in the particular quarter but on an overall year basis you will see it gets neutralized basically. So, the benefits of that will come in the subsequent quarters.

Attributed ACC's sequential cost increase to scheduled maintenances and early monsoon, indicating it's a temporary effect expected to neutralize.

Asked by Mr. Ritesh Shah

So, Sumangal, good question. Again, the 21 million which will be actually from FY27-28 basically, lots of groundwork has been done. So, groundwork in terms of land, in terms of the overall approvals of CTOs, environmental, public hearings, for example, lots of this groundwork has been done. And, therefore, it will not take more time when we actually start the project execution. And, therefore, preparatory civil work, basic civil work and pre-operating expenses and all, for example, in some of the sites have already started to happen, including appointment of the technical consultants and owners engineers and so and so forth. And importantly, in terms of our negotiations with the vendors as well, which is already at a very, very advanced level and you will hear positive developments on that front also, so that 20 million tons is also well on track and, therefore, very confident to achieve 140 by end of March′28.

Provided detailed update on the progress of the next phase of capacity expansion, emphasizing extensive groundwork and confidence in achieving the 140 MTPA target by FY28.

Asked by Mr. Sumangal Nivatia