ACC net profit falls 37 percent

ACC Ltd, controlled by Swiss group Holcim, reported a 37 per cent fall in net profit for the April-June quarter on muted volumes due to a slowdown in home building and infrastructure projects in India.

ACC, India's no. 2 cement maker, reported a net profit of Rs 262 crore compared with Rs. 415 crore a year earlier. Analysts on average expected it to post a net profit of Rs. 290 crore, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales were down 3.6 per cent at Rs. 2795 crore over the same period.

Holcim said on Wednesday it would raise its stake in its another Indian unit Ambuja Cements in a restructuring of its operations in the country that the Swiss cement maker said would cut costs.

Holcim said the deal would increase coordination between Ambuja and ACC and was expected to bring cost savings of about $150 million per year, which would be shared by the two Indian companies.

Copyright: Thomson Reuters 2013