The shares of Radhakishan Damani-owned India Cements Ltd. (ICL) fell more than 5.35% in the early hours of trading on Tuesday. As of 11:40 IST, the stock of the cement producer was trading at Rs. 260.5 per share. The decline in stock comes on the back of the sale of a subsidiary of India Cements to JSW Cement Ltd.
On 10 October 2022, India Cements entered into an agreement with JSW Cement to sell its entire stake in Springway Mining Private Limited (SMPL) to the latter for a total consideration of Rs. 476.87 crore. SMPL owns limestone-bearing land in the Panna district of Madhya Pradesh.
The development comes as a result of India Cement’s efforts to deleverage itself. The management of the company had said in May that it was planning to sell some of its land to reduce the debt. As of March 31 2022, the cement manufacturer had a net debt of Rs. 3,039 crore, an increase of 1.43% from Rs. 2,996 crore a year earlier.
The sale of a non-core asset didn’t excite the investors of India Cements as the consideration will not amount to a material change in debt reduction. Market experts commented that the sale of the huge land bank will be a key driver for material changes in deleveraging.
Part of the $22 billion JSW Group, JSW Cement is a cement manufacturing capacity with a present production capacity of 17 17 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). In comparison to it, ICL has a total capacity of 15.5 MTPA.
As per a recent report from CRISIL the Indian cement industry is projected to grow at a rate of 8-10% in 2022-23, the highest it has seen since 2018-19.
Associate director of CRISIL Research, Koustav Mazumdar, commented, “Cement volume growth this financial year will be driven by the non-housing segments, wherein offtake is expected to rise more than 15 per cent. Demand from the infrastructure segment will be aided by government spending, while industrial and commercial demand will be driven by growing investment in data centres and warehousing.”
Disclaimer
The content in this news article is not investment advice. Investing in equities poses a risk of financial losses. Investors must therefore exercise due caution while investing or trading in stocks. Dailyraven Technologies or the author are not liable for any losses caused as a result of the decision based on this article. Please consult your investment advisor before investing.
