The company has conducted a conference call on 5^th November 2018 to discuss the financial performance for the second quarter ended September 2018 and way forward. Mr. Jamshed Naval Cooper –Managing Director and Mr. Anil Sharma –Chief Financial Officer of the Company addressed the conference call.

• As on 30th September 2018, all India installed cement capacity of ~480 mt. Cement Industry reported production volume growth of 15% in last twelve months, driven by growth in infrastructure and rural housing; part of the growth was also driven by low base due to demonetization (Dec'16Q). During the same period, company (HCIL) reported sales volume growth of more than 10%, driven by robust cement demand esp. in rural Central India. The company reported cement capacity utilization of 90% on FY19 YTD in Central region against industry average of 70%.

• The company expects demand momentum in Central region to sustain with recovery in MP demand post assembly election. The company expects pricing trend remained steady in the region and appears to be overpriced compared to other regions. However, HEIM still expects the prices to improve by Rs10-20/bag in near future.

• The company reported 50% incline in net profit to Rs 50.10 crore on the back of 14% growth in top-line to Rs 485.90 crore in Q2FY19. The company sales volume inclined 6% to 11.2 lakh tonne in Q2FY19 and EBITDA increased 18% to Rs 1036 per tonne, driven by robust cement demand especially in rural central India. The company higher volume growth and as well higher capacity utilization led to higher EBIDTA growth. The company's trade-nontrade mix in Q2FY19 was 85:15. Currently, price difference between trade and non-trade ranges between Rs20-35/bag in the Central region.

• The company plans capacity expansion through acquisition route, it is currently working on de-bottlenecking process to increase its capacity by 0.4 mt in 3 phases. Phase-I will be completed in December 2018, while Phase-II and Phase-III are expected to be completed in 2019.

• The company operated at around 90% capacity utilization. The company continues to maintain its stance that it still has 3 years of headroom to manage its volume at 7% industry growth, they can produce additional cement without having to put extra capacities by just doing some de-bottlenecking activities and new capacity addition will be through Greenfield or inorganic route.

• The company enhanced its coal usage to 41% vs. 27% and 40% in 2QFY18 and 1QFY19, respectively as average coal price on Calorific Value basis was cheaper. Petcoke prices reduced by Rs300/tonne from 1st Nov'18 and currently rules at Rs12,000/tonne (landed cost). WHRS generation increased by 12% YoY.

• The company secured coal linkage under e-auction for 5 years through competitive bidding. Base price was fixed by Coal India based on heat rate and bidding was concluded on highest premium on base price.

• The company gets incentive of Rs 40-50/tonne from trade sales of production from Damoh unit, which translates into ~Rs20 crore annually. The benefit will last for 10 years and will last in 2023.

• The company power and fuel per tonne increased in Q2FY19, mainly due to 12% YoY rise in WHR generation and economical power sourcing

• The Company freight cost increased due to increase in road freight cost primarily driven by increase in diesel prices.