Interest cost was down 40% to Rs 72 lakh while depreciation rose 34% to Rs 4.05 crore resulting 59% increase in PBT to Rs 12.69 crore. Tax expense rose 48% to Rs 3.19 crore leading a 63% growth in PAT to Rs 9.5 crore.

For half year ended Sep'20 net sales rose 1% to Rs 215.81 crore. Operating margins declined 150 bps 10.1% leading a 13% fall in operating profits to Rs 21.72 crore. Interest cost rose 18% to Rs 2.83 crore while depreciation rose 33% to Rs 7.4 crore resulting 29% decrease in PBT to Rs 15.56 crore. Tax provision decreased 34% to Rs 4.05 crore. PAT was down 26% to Rs 11.51 crore.

Commenting on the Company's performance for Q2 & H1 FY2021, Mr. Sameer Gupta, Managing Director, Apollo Pipes said, "We have reported an encouraging performance during the quarter led by a robust uptick in consumption in the domestic markets. During the quarter, our sales volume grew by 19% to 12,268 MTPA, driven by a healthy contribution from the cPVC, HDPE pipe and value-added product segment of Fittings. Cost-optimization measures and improved contribution from the high-margin fittings segment further resulted in a better gross margin performance during the quarter.

From an operational standpoint, our existing manufacturing facilities at Dadri, Ahmedabad and Tumkur are operating at steady utilization levels and we remain confident of further improving it to the optimal levels in the quarters ahead. I am also happy to share that the plan to operationalization our Greenfield facility at Raipur is advancing well and we remain on track to commission this facility by March 2021. We are also progressing on our brownfield expansion plans at the three plants of Dadri, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru. In addition, our newly launched product Apollo Life - Water Storage Tank is seeing strong acceptance in the domestic market and accordingly, we are in the process of doubling the capacity for this product at our plant in Sikandarabad. So, on the whole, the planned capacity additions should enable us to deliver improved sales momentum, going forward.

Looking ahead, the upcoming festivities and various pro-growth measures undertaken by the Government, especially in the rural, infrastructure and agricultural space should lead to better demand and consumption of our products in the domestic market over the medium-to-longer term. We are confident that once the macro-situation normalizes, we should be able to deliver strong and sustainable growth, going forward."

• The Greenfield facility at Raipur is marking steady improvement and the company remains on track to fully operationalise the plant by March 2021. The facility, with a proposed installed capacity of 7,200 MTPA, is strategically located and will help boost volumes in high-potential domestic markets in Central and East India
• In addition, the Company is undertaking staggered brownfield expansions at its existing facilities of Dadri, Sikandarabad and Tumkur, which are also progressing as per schedule. The company is in the process of doubling the capacity for this product line at its current manufacturing facility at Sikandarabad in November 2020
• On the whole, the Company is aiming towards a healthy capacity upgradation and is on-track to achieve a total production capacity exceeding 100,000 MTPA by March 2021
• The Company's newly launched product – water storage tanks has seen strong acceptance in the domestic market and the product contributed to improved sales during the quarter
• The product launch is in-line with the Company's growth strategy to improve its product offerings across the value chain that efficiently leverages the ‘APL Apollo' brand reach and recall. This, will enable enhanced business visibility and improved sales performance for Apollo Pipes, going forward

Currently the shares are quoting at around Rs 504 at BSE.