chennai subdued demand due to economic slowdown resulted in a 61 drop in profit of ramco cements ltd the company said it earned rs 2499 crore during januarymarch 2014 as against rs 6415 crore it earned in the corresponding quarter previously the board has proposed a dividend of re 1 per share the company sold 2247 lakh tonnes of cement during the quarter including exports as against 2209 lakh tonnes revenues rose marginally by 3 to rs 98731 crore subdued demand due to slowdown in construction activities on account of sluggish infrastructure developments fall in real estate projects and nonavailability of sand in general and political unrest in andhra pradesh in particular impacted profitability a v darmakrishnan md of the company said with stable political situation both at centre and ap we expect a positive push from second half of this fiscal the operating cost for the quarter increased due to the depreciation of the rupee by about 11 impacting the cost of imported coal and pet coke expansion activities pushed up interest charges for the quarter to rs 4953 crore from rs 4635 crore for q4 results were below estimates ramcos performance during the quarter was impacted by low demand and a sharp decline in prices in its key markets in south india operating profit margins opm fell by 779 basis points or bps 100 bps 1 on a yoy basis and stood at a low 74 impacted by lower realization and increase in operating costs v srinivasan analyst at angel broking said ramco cements is setting up its fourth cement grinding unit in which may be commissioned this fiscal for the year ended march 2014 the company earned a net profit of rs 13770 crore as against rs 40365 crore down 66 while revenues dropped 3 to rs 376923 crore ramcos stock price fell marginally to rs 27195 apiece