(Reuters) -UltraTech Cement, India’s biggest cement maker by capacity, reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings, as strong volume growth outweighed a hit from weaker prices of the construction material.
Consolidated net profit for the October-December period fell more than 17% to 14.70 billion rupees ($170 million) but exceeded analysts’ average expectation of 13.90 billion rupees, as per data compiled by LSEG.
The sector leader’s sales volumes grew 10% in the reported quarter – on the higher side of the 8.4% to 11% range as estimated by analysts from four brokerages.
A sturdy growth in volumes helped UltraTech cushion the hit from low cement prices, while propping up its revenues to 171.93 billion rupees, up 2.7% from a year earlier and marginally surpassing analysts’ average estimate of 170.53 billion rupees.
Cement prices in India, which have been falling for the most of last year, improved during the quarter, analysts at brokerage Centrum said, but on an average were still about 11% lower on an on-year basis, data from brokerages Ambit and Nomura showed.
Shares of the company extended gains and were last up nearly 4% after the results.
($1 = 86.4820 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.