Grasim profits seen up

Only diversified Grasim Industries Ltd., the nation’s top cement group, is expected to report a small rise in fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, up 1.3 per cent at 2.8bn rupees (US$64m), a Reuters poll of 10 analysts showed.

This is because unlike most top cement industry players, Grasim operates mainly in the south and west of India, where prices and demand were more robust in the past quarter.

The company earns about 45 per cent of its revenues from cement. The remainder of its business is mainly in textiles and chemicals. In the textiles part of its business, it has had to cut its viscose staple fibre prices by some 3 percent in the past quarter to stay competitive with other fibres. Grasim, which along with its subsidiaries account for about a quarter of India’s total cement output of about 125Mt, will unveil quarterly earnings on April 29.

Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd., the third-biggest producer, is expected to report on Wednesday its third-quarter profit fell 14 per cent to 1.2bn rupees, partly because it had a one-time income of 267m rupees in the year ago.

The company will also consider a bonus share issue.