India's UltraTech Cement rises as Morgan Stanley eyes gains from expansion

India Cements

22/04/2024 06:46

** Shares of India's UltraTech Cement  ULTC.NS  up ~2%,
cooling off from session-high 2.3% rise  
    ** Market leader, over the weekend, announced plans to buy
grinding unit in Maharashtra state from India Cement  ICMN.NS 
for 3.15 bln rupees (roughly $38 million) 
    ** Also approved brownfield capacity expansions in
Maharashtra 
    ** Announcements to further boost ULTC's already strong
presence in the state and surrounding regions, including south
where co has relatively lower presence, says Morgan Stanley 
    ** ULTC has one-third market share in the state vs 24%
pan-India share, adds MS 
    ** Brokerage rates co "overweight" with 11,600 rupees PT,
analysts' avg rating "buy" with median PT 11,041 rupees - LSEG
    ** YTD stock has fallen over 9% after a ~51% jump in 2023 


($1 = 83.4175 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)
 ((Hritam.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com;))