India's JK Lakshmi Cement posts quarterly profit drop on weaker prices

JK Lakshmi Cement

27/05/2025 13:20

May 27 (Reuters) - India's JK Lakshmi Cement JKLC.NS reported a lower fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, as rising costs and softer prices overshadowed volume growth in a seasonally strong period.

Standalone net profit after tax fell 3% to 1.38 billion rupees ($16 million) during the January-March quarter.

Revenue from operations rose 5.5%, while costs increased 6%.

For further earnings highlights, click here.

KEY CONTEXT

The weather in India in the first three months of the year is usually favourable for construction and cement mills typically cash in on this demand by boosting their volumes.

Prices also began to recover in the past few months, reversing from declines logged for the bulk of last year. Still, the average price for the quarter was 2% lower on-year, data from brokerage Ambit Capital showed.

Rival Shree Cement SHCM.NS marginally missed fourth-quarter profit view as higher costs bit into record volumes, while cost controls helped Dalmia Bharat DALB.NS offset a hit from soft prices and lower volumes.

PEER COMPARISON

Valuation (next 12 months)
Estimates (next 12 months)
Analysts' sentiment
RIC
PE
EV/EBITDA
Revenue growth (%)
Profit growth (%)
Mean rating*
No. of analysts
Stock to price target**
Div yield (%)
JK Lakshmi Cement
JKLC.NS
24.34
10.53
13.30
76.15
Buy
13
0.98
0.74
Shree Cement
SHCM.NS
59.87
20.81
11.08
59.08
Hold
18
1.04
0.34
Dalmia Bharat
DALB.NS
35.73
12.49
11.22
31.69
Hold
28
1.01
0.44
Nuvoco Vistas
NUVO.NS
47.36
9.21
8.45
388.73
Hold
16
0.95
--

 * 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

JANUARY-MARCH STOCK PERFORMANCE

-- All data from LSEG

-- $1 = 85.3750 Indian rupees

JKLC Q4 https://tmsnrt.rs/3SQsDQW

 (Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

 ((Hritam.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @MukherjeeHritam;))