UltraTech relatively happy in comparison with ACC on the D-Street

A likely demand improvement, declining costs is keeping some analysts positive on ACC, but UltraTech's better placed given higher per tonne profit and expanded capacities

ACC’s lower-than-expected performance for the December quarter, led by sharper-than-expected fall in realisations, disappointed the Street. This had a domino effect on the bourses. The company’s share price fell over three per cent on Monday and another 0.8 per cent on Tuesday. 

ACC’s results were announced after market hours on Friday. In contrast, over a fortnight ago, UltraTech’s shares had gained 2.5 per cent after it posted relatively better numbers for the October-December period. Although UltraTech is far bigger in size, the two are comparable given their pan-Indian presence.

ACC’s cement volumes grew 4 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to 7.8