Indian cement market sees a trend reversal

Trend reversal happened in regional performance of cement companies

{reg}The south region of India saw steepest drop in sales in year on year as compared to north side of India this year, reports Live Mint. The cement market has managed to keep low single-digit growth in sales volume during the first quarter of the fiscal year (April-June 2015) as compared to same period last year.

Overall, the quarter ended June 2015 was a washout for the cement sector. The profitability of pan-India firms was at a decadal low, with the top four companies posting an average INR 20 per ton drop in operating profit as compared to last year.

During the first quarter, operating margin was pathetic for most firms. Leaders like ACC and Ambuja Cement recorded a huge drop in profit margin, while UltraTech Cement managed costs better to churn out decent profitability in line with a year ago. Only big southern cement plants like Ramco Cement displayed a surge in operating margins, fuelled by high cement prices that translated into robust realization on sales.{/reg}