UltraTech Cement Ltd’s profitability improved in the September quarter but slower-than-expected cement volume growth surprised investors. While its profitability is in good shape, what did not go down well with investors was subdued volume growth. Though the September quarter is a seasonally weak one for the cement industry, a growth of a mere 1% year-on-year to 11.18 million tonnes in sales volume (including export) was unexpected. After all, as some analysts pointed out in a post-earnings conference call, industry volume growth was nearly 2-3% in the quarter. The firming up of petcoke and international coal prices will mean that the benefits seen in profitability of lower petcoke prices may wane in future quarters.

Source: Mint October 17, 2016 18:33 UTC