Andhra Cements narrows loss as operating margin rises 5.94 points
Standalone revenue grew faster than expenses sequentially, but interest and depreciation kept the company in the red.
Filed 30 Oct 2026, 15:59 IST · after market close · Andhra Cements Ltd (ACL)
Key takeaways
- Standalone operating margin improved 5.94 percentage points sequentially to 8.57% as revenue growth of 16.75% outpaced expense growth of 9.63%.
- The company remained loss-making, with net loss narrowing 21.10% sequentially to Rs 28.35 cr despite operating profit of Rs 14.22 cr.
- Interest expense of Rs 31.79 cr and depreciation of Rs 21.06 cr more than offset operating profit, leaving profit before tax at a loss of Rs 37.66 cr.
Price around the results
Operating recovery did not yet reach net profit
Andhra Cements reported standalone revenue growth of 16.75% sequentially, while expenses rose 9.63%. That lifted operating profit to Rs 14.22 cr from Rs 3.74 cr, but interest of Rs 31.79 cr and depreciation of Rs 21.06 cr pushed profit before tax to a loss of Rs 37.66 cr. Net loss narrowed 21.10% to Rs 28.35 cr.
Margin improvement came from better operating leverage
Operating margin expanded 5.94 percentage points to 8.57% because revenue grew faster than expenses. The tax-rate change was limited to a 0.07 percentage-point decline, so the sequential reduction in net loss was mainly operating rather than tax-led. Other income was only 2.58% of pre-tax loss, and did not provide meaningful support to profit quality.
Margin remains below the Commodities peer median
The standalone operating margin of 8.57% was 6.76 percentage points below the 15.33% median for the 54 Commodities peers that had reported the same quarter. Sequentially, the margin improved from 2.63%, but the available trend covers only the move from Q1FY27 to Q2FY27 rather than a longer multi-quarter direction.
Results were filed after market close
The company filed its standalone results after market close on 30 October 2026. There is therefore no reported stock-market reaction to place against its past results.
Q2FY27 at a glance
Standalone figures as filed with NSE — filed ahead of third-party databases, not yet independently cross-checked.
| Line item | Q2FY27 | Q1FY27 | QoQ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ₹166 cr | ₹142 cr | +16.75% |
| Other income | ₹1 cr | ₹1 cr | -18.49% |
| Expenses | ₹152 cr | ₹138 cr | +9.63% |
| Operating profit | ₹14 cr | ₹4 cr | +280.21% |
| Operating margin (%) | 8.57% | 2.63% | — |
| Interest | ₹32 cr | ₹32 cr | -0.47% |
| Depreciation | ₹21 cr | ₹21 cr | +1.45% |
| Profit before tax | ₹-38 cr | ₹-48 cr | +21.16% |
| Tax | ₹-9 cr | ₹-12 cr | +21.37% |
| Net profit | ₹-28 cr | ₹-36 cr | +21.10% |
| EPS (₹) | ₹-3.08 | ₹-3.90 | +21.03% |
Operating margin of 8.57% compares with a Commodities sector median of 15.33% across 54 peers that have reported Q2FY27.
What to watch
- Whether standalone operating margin holds above 8.57% after the 5.94 percentage-point sequential improvement.
- Whether revenue growth continues to exceed expense growth after the respective sequential changes of 16.75% and 9.63%.
- Whether interest expense moves below Rs 31.79 cr, which exceeded the quarter's Rs 14.22 cr operating profit.