(Reuters) -India’s Ambuja Cements reported a higher first-quarter adjusted profit on Thursday, helped by strong volume growth and recovering cement prices.
Standalone pre-tax profit rose to 10.66 billion rupees ($121.69 million) during the April-June period, up 37% on-year. The company recorded a one-off expense of 128.9 million rupees in the year-ago quarter.
Revenues rose 22%, lifted by a near-17% volume rise. At least four brokerages expected volumes to grow in the 7%-22% range.
Shares fell 1.4% at a time when the broader market is digesting Trump’s 25% tariff threat and an undisclosed penalty on Indian goods.
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KEY CONTEXT
April-June quarter is usually a weak quarter for cement makers, as the summer heat and monsoon rains hinder construction.
However, Ambuja, with its unit ACC, and larger rival UltraTech Cement, have managed to protect their volumes thanks to the string of deals they have inked in the sector recently, analysts said.
Rising 2% from last year’s slump, cement prices also lent support, in the quarter, according to brokerage Ambit Capital.
Last week, UltraTech Cement reported earnings above market estimates and ACC posted a 5% profit rise, aided by uptick in prices.
PEER COMPARISON
Valuation (next 12 Estimates (next 12 Analysts’ sentiment
months) months)
RIC PE EV/EBI Price/ Revenue Profit Mean No. of Stock to Div
TDA Sales growth (%) growth (%) rating* analyst price yield
s target** (%)
Ambuja Cements 39.49 17.45 3.25 21.97 6.90 Buy 34 0.98 0.32
UltraTech Cement 36.65 20.03 3.83 14.91 43.98 Buy 37 0.91 0.63
ACC 16.47 8.99 1.51 11.64 -3.34 Buy 20 0.82 0.41
Shree Cement 54.65 19.85 5.27 10.64 39.98 Hold 19 1.01 0.36
* The mean of analyst ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell
** The ratio of the stock’s last close to analysts’ mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT
APRIL-JUNE STOCK PERFORMANCE
— All data from LSEG
— $1 = 87.60 Indian rupees
(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)
