UltraTech Cement slips after weak Q1 outcome

UltraTech Cement fell 0.36% to Rs 1,858.25 at 14:56 IST on BSE after net profit fell 13.49% to Rs 673 crore on 2.24% decline in net sales to Rs 4958 crore in Q1 June 2013 over Q1 June 2012.

The company announced Q1 result during market hours today, 29 July 2013. Trading was volatile in the counter, with the stock rising 0.66% at the day's high of Rs 1,877.25 in early trade. It reversed trend after the Q1 result was announced to slide 1.59% at the day's low of Rs 1,835.35 in afternoon trade.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 129.09 points, or 0.65%, to 19,619.10.

On BSE, 9,344 shares were traded in the counter as against an average daily volume of 29,597 shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 1,877.25 and a low of Rs 1,835.35 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 2,074.80 on 12 October 2012. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 1,600.35 on 2 August 2012.

UltraTech Cement said that the quarter witnessed an increasing trend in logistics and raw material costs, linked to increase in railway freight and diesel prices. The benefit of softening in prices of imported coal was partly offset by rupee depreciation, the company said.

UltraTech Cement said that the clinkerisation plant of 3.3 million metric tonnes in Karnataka has been commissioned. The company's board of directors has further sanctioned capital expenditure (capex) of Rs 2100 crore towards setting up grinding units and ready mix concrete plants across the country and also towards modernization. With this, the total capex under implementation is around Rs 13700 crore. UltraTech Cement said that the company is in the process of ramping up capacity by another 10 million tonnes by 2015. This will result in the company's total cement capacity getting augmented to 64.45 million tonnes.

The cement major said that the outlook continues to remain challenging. Growth in cement demand in the year ended 31 March 2014 (FY 2014) is expected to be around 6%, the company said. Over the long run, the demand for cement is likely to be at over 8%, with housing and infrastructure being the key demand drivers, the company said.

UltraTech Cement is India's largest manufacturer of cement with an installed capacity of 54 million tonnes per annum.

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