Ambuja Cements shares tank 5% post weak quarterly earnings

Shares of Ambuja Cements Limited tanked 5.48 per cent to hit an intraday low of Rs 339.70 on BSE after the company posted a weak set of numbers for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2021.
 
The company on Thursday reported a decline of 55.48 per cent in its consolidated net profit to Rs 430.97 crore for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2021. The company, which follows the January-December financial year, had clocked a net profit of Rs 968.24 crore a year-ago quarter.
 
Revenue from operations during October-December 2021 jumped 2.31 per cent to Rs 7,625.28 crore, compared with Rs 7,452.87 crore in the year-ago period. The firm's consolidated result also includes the financial performance of its step-down firm ACC Ltd.
 
The stock opened 3 per cent lower at Rs 348.50 against the previous close of Rs 359.40. At 13:30 hours, the shares were trading 5.05 per cent lower at Rs 341.25. Market cap of the firm fell to Rs 67,760.14. The shares stand lower than 5 day, 20 day, 50 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages.
 
The company informed that the board has approved in principle investment of Rs 3,500 Crore for a cement grinding expansion plan of potential 7.0 million tons across the existing grinding units at Sankrail and Farakka and at a greenfield location at Barh, in Bihar. This is supported by a 3.2 million tons brownfield clinker expansion at our existing integrated plant in Bhatapara, Chhattisgarh.
 
Mr. Neeraj Akhoury, CEO, Holcim India and Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Ambuja Cements Limited said, "Ambuja delivered a strong full-year performance with an EBIT growth of 25 per cent for the full year backed by strong performance in volume, product mix and operational efficiencies combined with a significant acceleration in volumes under the Master Supply Agreement with ACC."
 
"During the year we delivered our highest ever sales volume supported by stabilization of operations at our new plant in Rajasthan. However, the December 2021 quarter was unfavorably impacted by a very steep escalation in fuel prices coupled with subdued demand in multiple regions," he added.
 
Ambuja Cements further said that the economic activity continues to see improvement due to upbeat business confidence. The recently announced Union Budget focuses on growth led by a substantial increase in the capex for the infrastructure sector.
 
Cement demand growth is expected to remain positive backed by increased demand for housing combined with the government's thrust on infrastructure development, it added.
 
According to MarketsMojo, the technical trend has deteriorated from Mildly Bullish on February 04, 2022. The stock is technically in a Mildly Bearish range and multiple factors for the stock are Bearish like MACD, Bollinger Band and KST.