BENGALURU (Reuters) -India’s UltraTech Cement reported higher-than-expected second-quarter revenue on Thursday, aided by market share gains and higher government spending on infrastructure.
The news pushed shares of the Aditya Birla Group-backed company up 3% on Thursday.
Revenue rose 15.3% to 160.12 billion rupees for the three months ended Sept. 30, topping analysts’ average estimate of 158.39 billion rupees as per LSEG data.
The cement maker said in a statement it has also been gaining from an uptick in rural development and urban residential demand.
Earlier this month, UltraTech reported a 15% increase in second-quarter domestic sales of grey cement, which according to HSBC Global Research, helped it gain market share for the sixth straight quarter.
The company, however, missed profit estimates due to a 12% rise in expenses.
Consolidated net profit for the second quarter rose 69.5% to 12.81 billion rupees ($153.8 million), falling short of the analysts’ average estimate of 13.82 billion rupees.
($1 = 83.2775 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)
