India Cements reports third-quarter loss on subdued demand

India Cements

01/02/2024 07:00

Feb 1 (Reuters) - India Cements  ICMN.NS  reported a loss for the third quarter on Thursday, hit by
subdued demand due to a slow down in construction activity ahead of elections and cyclone in some states. 
    The southern India-focused cement maker reported a loss of 165.1 million rupees ($2 million) in the quarter
ended Dec. 31, compared with a profit of 907.3 million rupees a year ago. 
    For further results highlights, click here: [Full story]
    
    KEY CONTEXT
    One of the market leaders in southern India, India Cements has been impacted by construction activity slowing
down with the elections in Telangana, the cylone in Tamil Nadu, parts of Telangana and a moderated demand in the
festival season. 
    Average cement prices also remained largely flat in the quarter, as muted volumes pressured cement companies
to roll-back price hikes, analysts noted.
    Larger peers UltraTech Cement  ULTC.NS , ACC  ACC.NS  and Dalmia Bharat  DALB.NS , however, reported
significant rise in their profits on strong infrastructure demand.    
    
 PEER COMPARISON
                                    Valuation (next 12    Estimates (next 12          Analysts' sentiment
                                         months)               months)          
                       RIC          PE      EV/EBITDA   Revenue      Profit     Mean      # of      Stock to
                                                        growth       growth     rating*   analysts  price
                                                                                                    target**
 India Cements Ltd      ICMN.NS      36.60       13.64     NULL        NULL     Sell             1      1.67
 JK Lakshmi Cement      JKLC.NS      14.65       10.12     10.84       28.08    Buy             11      1.10
 Ltd                                                                                                
 Ramco Cements          TRCE.NS      32.04       14.35     10.70       45.42    Hold            19      1.02
 Limited                                                                                            
 Nuvoco Vistas          NUVO.NS      36.37        9.19     6.73        49.70    Buy             17      0.90
 Corporation Ltd                                                                                    
 * 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

   OCTOBER-DECEMBER STOCK PERFORMANCE
    
    
    
-- All data from LSEG
-- $1 = 82.9700  Indian rupees

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OCT-DEC STOCK PERFORMANCE    https://tmsnrt.rs/3vQd9En
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 (Reporting by Anisha Ajith in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
 ((anisha.ajith@thomsonreuters.com;))