INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The profitability of Indian cement companies should recover from the recent lows, but the pace will be slower than expected, said Morgan
UltraTech Cement ended down 1 per cent at Rs 4,047.30
(April-March) was disappointing due to weaker-than-expected cement prices and higher costs, said Morgan Stanley.
The firm raised FY19 demand
growth estimate to 9 per cent from 7.5 per cent due to strong first half of financial year 2018-19
However, it sees downside risks in the urban and semi-urban real estate segment even as infrastructure-led demand is likely to be
sustained.
Morgan Stanley expects industry capacity utilization to rise a modest 1 percentage point from a year ago in the next financial
year 2019-20, to 79 per cent
Potential moderation in demand in the second half of FY19 also caps upside risk to prices, said Morgan Stanley.
