India’s Shree Cement topped second-quarter profit estimates on Monday, as higher-than-expected sales volumes helped mitigate low prices of the key construction material.
The country’s third-biggest cement maker by market capitalisation reported a net profit of 931.3 million rupees ($11 million) for the three months ended Sept. 30, down 81% from year-ago.
Analysts were expecting a profit of 765.8 million rupees, per data compiled by LSEG.
Revenue from operations fell 18% to 37.27 billion rupees, but was below analysts’ average estimate of 38.91 billion rupees.
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KEY CONTEXT
Shree Cement logged a volume growth of 7% in the quarter, less than the 10% it logged in the year-ago quarter, but stronger than estimates of four analysts, who were expecting 8% drop to 3% growth.
Cement makers struggled with prices hitting a five-year low and demand failing to recover from the June quarter, when elections had slowed construction and other infrastructure activities.
However, the companies were upbeat about demand in the long run.
Last month, market leader UltraTech Cement flagged early signs of a price recovery after reporting a sharp drop in second-quarter profit and first revenue decline in four years.
UltraTech’s smaller rivals ACC and Ambuja Cements both saw higher-than-expected volume growth.
