Dalmia Bharat Q2 results, out on Monday afternoon, October 26, show a cement maker selling more and earning a lot less. The company posted a consolidated net loss of ₹205 crore for the July-September quarter, against a profit of ₹239 crore a year earlier, according to its results press release filed with NSE. A one-time charge of ₹339 crore did most of the damage, but the operating numbers were weak even before that.
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Dalmia Bharat Q2 results: what the numbers say
Revenue from operations rose 4% to ₹3,563 crore from ₹3,417 crore. Sales volume was 7.1 million tonnes, up 3% from 6.9 million tonnes.
Then comes EBITDA. It fell 29% to ₹493 crore from ₹696 crore. Per tonne, EBITDA dropped 31% to ₹698 from ₹1,013. Work it out on revenue and the EBITDA margin slid to about 13.8% from about 20.4% a year ago. Profit before tax and exceptional items was just ₹46 crore, down 86% from ₹318 crore.
The loss attributable to owners of the parent was ₹207 crore, the board-meeting outcome shows, against a profit of ₹236 crore in the same quarter last year and ₹188 crore in the June quarter.
Where the ₹339 crore went
The exceptional hit has two parts. The group booked an impairment loss of ₹282 crore on certain assets, including three captive power plants and one of its brands, after assessing what they could realistically recover. It also ran a separation scheme for eligible employees at a few units, which cost ₹57 crore as a one-time charge.
This is not the first such charge this year. The June quarter carried ₹182 crore of exceptional items, which takes the first-half total to ₹521 crore. For the six months, the company reported a net loss of ₹13 crore against a ₹634 crore profit in the first half of last year, even though half-year revenue grew 6% to ₹7,453 crore.
Worse than the Street expected
According to CNBC-TV18’s Q2 results liveblog, the quarter missed its poll on every major line. Analysts polled by the channel had pencilled in revenue of ₹3,646 crore, EBITDA of ₹552 crore, a margin of 15.14% and a much smaller net loss of ₹75 crore.
Chief financial officer Yatin Malhotra blamed demand challenges in a few key markets and macroeconomic cost headwinds for the EBITDA drop, while saying the company hopes firmer cement prices and cost cutting will help. Managing director Puneet Dalmia said cement demand grew well during the quarter and expansion plans remain on track.
Balance sheet, expansion and the dividend
Net debt to EBITDA stood at 2.0 times, up from 0.6 times a year ago. That is the number we would watch most closely from here, because it rose while the company keeps spending on growth.
On that front, a trial run began in October at the 3.6 million tonnes a year clinker line in Belgaum, which the company says is ahead of schedule. Separately, the committee of creditors of Bhilai Jaypee Cement has approved the resolution plan submitted by Dalmia’s wholly owned subsidiary Dalmia Cement (Bharat). Bhilai Jaypee owns a 2.2 million tonne grinding unit in Bhilai and a 1.1 million tonne clinker unit at Babupur. The deal still needs approval from the NCLT bench in Cuttack and other regulators.
The board declared an interim dividend of ₹4 per share of face value ₹2, and fixed Friday, October 30, 2026, as the record date.
What it means for shareholders
Strip out the impairment and the quarter still shows thin profitability: pre-exceptional profit of ₹46 crore on revenue of ₹3,563 crore. Volumes are growing, so the question for the next few quarters is whether prices and costs let per-tonne earnings recover while debt stays in check. If you want a framework for reading results like these, our guide on how to analyse quarterly results walks through it, and the Q2 results lined up this week put Dalmia’s numbers in context. For why margins matter more than revenue here, see our explainer on EBIT margin in results.
Disclaimer: This article is for information and education only and is not investment advice. Please do your own research or consult a SEBI-registered adviser before making any investment decision.
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