Heidelberg Cement has announced its third quarter results. The company’s Q3 net profit was down at INR 2.8 crore versus INR 27 crore. Its net sales were down at INR 168 crore versus INR 208 crore.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Mr Ashish Guha MD of Heidelberg Cement gave his perspective on the quarter gone by and the road ahead.

Q - Tell us why the revenues and the profitability especially the profitability has seen such a steep decline in this quarter?

A - This is the worst quarter for Heidelberg Cement essentially because price is down, volume is flat, and raw material costs are higher.

Q - There have been many reports of price hikes across the country in some parts specially the south if you would like to confirm any of that, what do you think is a pricing situation?

A - There have been some increases over the past few weeks but July to September has been bad quarter.

Q - What about the volumes, are you seeing an improvement?

A - A little bit. Volumes were flattish so we didn’t lose much in terms of volumes.

To read more about the interview please viist www.steelguru.com