Housing slump, monsoon may hit India Cements this quarter

Chennai : Chennai-based India Cements benefited from curtailed output among players in the South in the June 11 quarter. In addition, there was a strong improvement in realisations on a per-tonne basis. As a result, the company's operating profit margin doubled compared to a year earlier to 23.2% in the first quarter of FY12 while net sales improved 20.2% year-on-year (YoY) in the quarter under review.

In the company's key cement division, its realisations improved an estimated 29% YoY to 4,172 per tonne in the first quarter of FY12, while dispatches declined nearly 12.8 %. Other leading players in the South, like Madras Cement, also improved their realisations by nearly 20.7% YoY on a per-tonne basis in the first quarter of FY12.