The quarter January-March 2024, analysts note, was an unusual one for the cement sector.
While price rise is the norm, cement prices, on average, declined despite growth in volumes. Margins for the quarter, analysts said, may see a healthy year-on-year rise but decline sequentially. ICICI Securities, Motilal Oswal, Nuvama, and Antique expect earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) for their universe to grow in the range 19-28 per cent from a year ago.
Volumes, similarly, are expected to rise in the range 8-10 per cent. Analysts with ICICI Securities in their note said they estimate industry volumes in Q4FY24 to