Ambuja Cements Q2 net profit falls 37%

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

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ACC, India's No. 2 cement maker, reported a net profit of 2.62 billion rupees ($44 million) compared with 4.15 billion rupees a year earlier.

Analysts on average expected it to post a net profit of 2.9 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters.

Sales were down 3.6% at 27.95 billion rupees over the same period.

Holcim said on Wednesday it would raise its stake in its another Indian unit Ambuja Cements Ltd 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. ($1 = 59.0900 rupees)