Andhra Cements Q2: loss narrows to ₹28.4 Cr YoY as revenue doubles, OPM turns positive

Andhra Cements' standalone net loss narrowed to ₹28.35 Cr for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, from ₹41.94 Cr a year earlier and ₹35.93 Cr last quarter, as revenue from operations more than doubled YoY (+113%) to ₹165.98 Cr and grew 17% sequentially — the payoff from the grinding capacity expansion to 3.00 MTPA completed in late September 2026. No consolidated statement accompanies this filing; the company reports standalone only. The margin story is genuinely stronger: OPM swung to +8.57% from -5.78% YoY and 2.63% QoQ, and NPM improved to -17.0% from -53.5% YoY and -25.1% QoQ. But the 32% YoY narrowing in net loss overstates the underlying operating improvement — at the pre-tax level the loss narrowed only about 10% YoY (₹37.66 Cr vs ₹41.92 Cr), with the gap explained by a ₹9.31 Cr non-cash deferred-tax credit this quarter versus nil tax a year ago (Note 6, Section 115BAA remeasurement based on projected future taxable income). Finance costs (₹31.79 Cr) and depreciation (₹21.06 Cr) together still absorb roughly a third of revenue, as debt funding the expansion pushed total borrowings to ~₹1,184 Cr, up ~6% since March 2026. A separate ₹1.18 Cr MBL Cess provision reversal at the Dachepalli mines (Note 8) added a minor one-off credit to other expenses. There is no analyst coverage or consensus estimate for this micro-cap on record — a web search for Q2 FY27 previews turned up none — and the company has issued no formal guidance either in our records or found via search, so the print cannot be graded against street or management expectations. The larger corporate overhang is the proposed Scheme of Amalgamation merging Andhra Cements into parent Sagar Cements Limited (appointed date April 1, 2026, board-approved June 5, 2026), still pending Stock Exchange/SEBI/NCLT approval; once cleared it ends ACL's standalone listing. Statutory auditors B S R and Co issued an unmodified limited-review conclusion on these results. Going into Q3, the markers to watch are whether the OPM gain holds now that the expanded capacity is fully online, how much of future PAT improvement continues to depend on non-cash deferred-tax credits rather than operating cash flow, and the pace of regulatory clearance for the Sagar Cements merger.