India's Ramco Cements misses profit view as monsoon rains dent volumes

Ramco Cements

07/08/2025 15:03

Aug 7 (Reuters) - India's Ramco Cements TRCE.NS reported first-quarter results below expectations on Thursday, as sales volumes took a hit from early monsoon rains.

Standalone revenues dipped 1% on-year, as rains-dented demand outweighed a pricing rebound in Ramco's core southern markets. However, a 4.3% on-year decrease in costs helped profits to more than double. Still, on both counts, the company missed analysts' average estimate compiled by LSEG.

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KEY CONTEXT

Cement volumes fell 7% on-year in the reported quarter, Ramco said in a statement, hurt by "weak demand" due to early monsoon rains in the southern state of Kerala. South India gives Chennai-based Ramco 80% of its volumes.

April-June is a seasonally weak quarter for cement makers as soaring summer temperatures and monsoon rains hinder construction activity and hit demand for the construction material.

Meanwhile, cement prices in the region has been under pressure from last year until April, when they sharply rebounded helping pan-India prices gain 2% year-on-year in the reported quarter, according to brokerage Ambit Capital.

Regional peer Dalmia Bharat's DALB.NS consolidated profits in the reported quarter also jumped mainly on cost control measures as its revenues stagnated on-year.

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 (%)
Ramco Cements Limited
TRCE.NS
43.58
15.98
13.19
156.62
Hold
24
1.14
0.17
UltraTech Cement Ltd
ULTC.NS
36.66
19.81
14.53
42.33
Buy
37
0.91
0.63
Ambuja Cements
ABUJ.NS
33.86
16.34
22.41
4.53
Buy
35
0.91
0.34
Dalmia Bharat Ltd
DALB.NS
32.14
12.37
10.60
40.61
Hold
33
0.98


* 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

APRIL-JUNE STOCK PERFORMANCE

-- All data from LSEG

-- $1 = 87.4490 Indian rupees

TRCE Q1 https://tmsnrt.rs/4mwHkWs

 (Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Shailesh Kuber)

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