Ambuja Cements gains 4% ahead of Q1 results

NEW DELHI: Shares of Ambuja Cements advanced nearly 4 per cent in Monday’s trade ahead of the company’s March quarter results scheduled later in the day.

The stock jumped 3.6 per cent to hit a high of Rs 174 on BSE.

Cement demand, which was poor during April-October, picked up since November 2019. However, it fell 30-40 per cent in March due to the lockdown.

Ambuja Cements’ volumes are seen falling 9-12 per cent in March quarter on year-on-year basis. Nomura India expects profit for the cement maker to drop 26 per cent YoY to Rs 317 crore and Ebitda per tonne to increase by 7 per cent.

The company follows January-December calendar as financial year.

Other brokerages expect profit to rise, but marginally.

Elara Capital expects net sales at Rs 2,812 crore, down 1.2 per cent YoY, and profit growth at 2.9 per cent to Rs 402.10 crore.

Centrum Broking also expects the cement maker’s profit to rise 4.4 per cent to Rs 393.50 crore, while sales are projected to fall 9.1 per cent to Rs 2,660 crore.

The brokerage sees Ebitda margin rising to 17.4 per cent, up 160 basis points over 15.8 per cent reported for the year-ago quarter. Ebitda per tonne is seen rising to Rs 832 from Rs 727, up 14.4 per cent.