JK Lakshmi Cement sees pre-tax earnings improve from Q4 on higher sales | Company News
JK Lakshmi Cement Chairman and Director Arun Kumar Shukla said on Monday that it expects its pre-tax earnings, or EBITDA, to improve in the fourth quarter and subsequent periods due to higher sales realizations and growing non-business (B2B) volumes.
Non-commercial (Institutional) prices are strengthening, demand remains strong and costs are slowly increasing; This will support better realizations compared to the December quarter.
“So EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) will be better because corporate prices have increased, demand is better and cost is also increasing. So I think this will be better than the third quarter realizations,” he said.
Cement companies reported in their third-quarter earnings that their revenues were affected due to the softening of cement prices due to the GST cut.
When asked about the fourth quarter, Shukla said, “I see this (Q4/FY26) as good because the volume and demand are good. Prices are also increasing slowly as the cost is increasing. So Q4 will be better than Q3.”
Announcing its results for the December quarter last week, JK Lakhsmi Cement reported a 6.11 percent increase in revenue from operations to Rs 1,588.40 billion. Sales volume increased by 8.24 percent to 3.28 million tonnes in the third quarter of FY26.
However, its consolidated net profit fell 23.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 57 billion due to the implementation of new labor laws.
“Overall, I see the industry growing at around 7 to 8 per cent in FY26 and we will definitely grow more than the industry,” Shukla said.
The company on Monday launched Green PRO LC3, one of the country’s first commercially available Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3).
Green PRO LC3, which will be manufactured at the company’s integrated Jaykaypuram facility in Sirohi, Rajasthan, has been developed to deliver lower carbon intensity, enhanced durability and improved performance for large-scale infrastructure and high exposure applications, according to JK Lakhsmi Cement.
“This will be around 30 to 35 rupees higher than the base product (per 50 kg bag),” he said.
Like other players, JK Lakhsmi Cement is trying to increase its revenue and EBITDA through premium products. The company expects the contribution of premium products, which are mainly sold through commercial channels, to increase in the coming years.
“Premium products are not sold in the non-trade segment, and we are one of the leaders in the commercial segment,” he said, adding, “Premium products contributed 26 percent in the last quarter.” Shukla said more than Rs 20,000 crore has been allocated for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) by the government in the proposed Union Budget for 2026-27 and said this was as per the government’s 2070 net zero target.
“We plan to reach carbon net zero by 2047 and the launch of LC3 is a step in that direction,” he added.
Shukla said that under expansion, JK Lakshmi Cement’s current capacity is 18 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) and it is working to have 30 MTPA installed Cement Capacity by 2030.
“We planned to enter the eastern region, enter the northern region and even expand in the west. We have projects at different stages,” he said.
JK Lakhsmi Cement is expanding the clinker capacity at its integrated cement plant at Durg in Chhattisgarh by setting up an additional clinker line of 2.3 MMTPA and four cement grinding units reaching 4.6 MTPA at Durg in Chhattisgarh. Also three separately located cement grinding units at Prayagraj in UP, Madhubani in Bihar and Patratu in Jharkhand with aggregate cement grinding capacity of 3.4 MTPA.
