Cement sector may outperform; what to sell, add and hold: Girija Shankar Ray
Girija Shankar Ray, Vice President Equity Research, Yes Securities, says among top picks within the cement sector, ACC can be recommended. The second one is Shree Cement. These two companies are going to do well, even though there is trouble in the industry right now. A lot of cost initiative programmes are going to happen. But for UltraTech and Ambuja, valuations are higher and for Ambuja, whatever acquisitions they have done, it is going to ultimately benefit ACC. So, ACC is his top pick. Ambuja will have a sell rating, as will UltraTech because it has very high valuations. One can add Birla Corp, Dalmia in their portfolio.
There are reports doing rounds that there has been a price hike of almost Rs 10 to Rs 30 taken in December so far. What are your channel checks suggesting? Is that something that you are picking up as well?
Girija Shankar Ray: So, yes, in November, a price hike was what the Street and the dealers and distributors were expecting for cement, but there was no price hike. In fact, in October and November, on a month-on-month basis, the prices are flattish. The prices are five years below the line right now. And the major impact was in southern regions. In the north and eastern regions, prices are more or less stable. In the other three regions, the prices have actually declined. There was a sharp correction. I believe the prices have bottomed out.
From here, I do not see much price correction. But yes, the price will be more or less stable for the next few quarters. The only problem was there is
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