Profits at India’s largest cement maker ACC fell 1.6% from the same period in the previous fiscal to Rs392.87 crore as sales fell due to a shortage of railway wagons to transport the product.
Ambuja Cements posted a 38% jump in profit to Rs462 crore, riding on a 7.8% increase in sales from the same period a year ago to Rs1990 crore.
The profit included a one-time gain of Rs72.6 crore from the stake sale in ING Vysya Life Insurance Co Ltd.
"Several of our cement units faced despatch constraints due to non-availability of railway wagons, as a result of which our sales volumes were near flat," ACC said in a statement. Its sales fell 2.6% to 5.58Mt from 5.73Mt.
Analysts, however, said the profit numbers were better than expectations as realisations improved in the quarter. They attributed ACC’s lower consolidated profits to a struggling ready-mix concrete business, which has suffered in the past year due to a slowdown in real estate.
