India Cements posts wider Q1 adjusted loss as raw material costs weigh

India Cements

07/08/2023 08:12

Aug 7 (Reuters) - India Cements  ICMN.NS  reported a wider adjusted loss in the first quarter on Monday, hurt by irregular monsoon and high raw
material costs.
    The company reported a loss before exceptional items and tax at 989.1 million rupees ($11.96 million), from 720.1 million rupees loss a year ago.
    Revenue from operations fell about 4% to 13.93 billion rupees, while raw materials cost surged 13.2%. 
    For further results highlights, (click here)
    
KEY CONTEXT 
    While analysts expected profit in the domestic cement industry to be driven by higher government infrastructure spending in the quarter, they flagged risks
from heavy monsoons that could restrict construction activities and weak cement prices. 
    Larger rivals Ultratech cement  ULTC.NS  and Shree Cement  SHCM.NS  reported higher quarterly profit on the back of robust demand.
    
    PEER COMPARISON
    
    
                                   Valuation (next 12      Estimates (next 12 months)                      Analysts' sentiment                   
                                        months)                                                                                                  
                      RIC        PE     EV/EBITDA        Revenue growth  Profit growth    Mean rating  # of analysts*  Stock to price target **  Div yield (%)
 India Cements Ltd     ICMN.NS   77.75  16.72            8.63            Null             Sell         4               1.56                      0.00
 Ambuja Cements Ltd    ABUJ.NS   36.21  13.60            -7.99           13.13            Hold         21              1.01                      0.53
 JK Lakshmi Cement     JKLC.NS   14.48  7.63             10.46           35.30            Buy          12              0.86                      0.59
 Ltd                                                                                                                                             
 Ramco Cements Ltd     TRCE.NS   25.43  13.98            10.98           59.00            Hold         20              1.03                      0.23
 * Mean of analysts' ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell

** 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 PERFORMANCE 
    
    
    -- All data from Refinitiv
    



($1 = 82.7350 Indian rupees)

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 (Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru; editing by Eileen Soreng)
 ((Manvi.Pant@thomsonreuters.com; +918447554364;))