UltraTech Cement Q4 profit rises 35% YoY, beats estimates

UltraTech Cement Q4 results: UltraTech Cement, India's largest cement producer, exceeded expectations with its fourth-quarter financial results, driven by robust sales volumes and favourable pricing dynamics. 

The company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,258 crore for the quarter ending in March, marking a significant increase of over 35.5 per cent compared to the same period last year, surpassing analysts' average estimate of Rs 2,080 crore. 

This marks UltraTech's highest quarterly profit in two years.

During the seasonally strong January-March period, cement manufacturers, including UltraTech, offered discounts to meet their fiscal year-end volume targets amid intense competition. This strategy, although impacting cement prices negatively, led to an 11 per cent increase in sales volumes across India, falling within the 9 per cent-12 per cent growth range estimated by analysts.

UltraTech's revenue from operations also saw a notable uptick, rising by 9.4 per cent to Rs 20,419 billion rupees, the highest since at least the June quarter of fiscal 2014. This exceeded the street's expectation of Rs 20,064 crore.

The Indian cement industry has been buoyed by strong demand from the infrastructure and property sectors in recent quarters. However, analysts anticipate subdued demand in the first half of fiscal 2025 due to factors such as general elections and a potentially healthy monsoon.

Despite the positive performance, UltraTech faced challenges in the form of rising freight and input costs, which drove total expenses 6.7 per cent higher.

UltraTech Cement's shares, which had risen by 2 per cent ahead of the results, settled 2.7 per cent higher following the earnings announcement.

(With Reuters inputs.)