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July 24 (Reuters) - Indian cement maker ACC (ACC.NS), opens new tab reported a 5% rise in first-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by strong volumes and higher prices of the construction material.
Standalone profit after tax - which excludes the company's non-core realty and infrastructure subsidiaries - rose to 3.85 billion rupees ($44.6 million) in the three months ended June, from 3.66 billion rupees, the Adani Group firm said.
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April-June is typically a seasonally weak period for cement makers, as summer heatwaves followed by monsoon rains hinder the pace of construction and dent demand of the raw material.
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However, ACC's sales volumes have been insulated from seasonal volatility, thanks to the string of cement deals its billionaire-owner Gautam Adani has inked to challenge rival UltraTech Cement's (ULTC.NS), opens new tab polestar position in the sector, analysts have said.
ACC's volumes rose 12% in the reported quarter, on the upper side of the 5.8%-12% growth range projected by atleast four brokerages.
Cement prices also lent support, rising about 2% on-year on average in the quarter, extending its steady recovery so far this year after last year's slump, according to brokerage Ambit Capital.
ACC's revenues rose nearly 18% on-year to 60.15 billion rupees in the reported quarter, while costs grew over 16% to 55.61 billion rupees.
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Higher prices also helped bigger rival UltraTech top earnings estimates in the reported quarter. Meanwhile, fellow peer Dalmia Bharat's (DALB.NS), opens new tab consolidated profits jumped, opens new tab mainly on cost control measures as its revenues stagnated on-year.
Ambuja Cements (ABUJ.NS), opens new tab, also Adani-owned, is set to report results next week.
($1 = 86.3540 Indian rupees)
Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Nivedita Bhattacharjee
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