Ambuja Cements Ltd, the Adani group company, on Monday reported a 22 per cent fall in standalone net profit for the second quarter ended September 30, 2024.

Net profit fell to ₹500.66 crore against ₹643.84 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Revenues during the reporting period increased to ₹4,213.34 crore against ₹3,969.79 crore a year ago.

Cement companies have been reporting a muted second quarter on account of weak pricing and delays in infrastructure projects.

Expenses in the second quarter increased to ₹3,804.78 crore compared with ₹3,468.42 crore a year ago.

Ambuja said that during the quarter its sales stood at 8.7 million tonnes (mt) against 7.6mt in the same quarter of the last year on a standalone basis.

Shares of the company ended with gains of 2.91 per cent at ₹569.45 in the BSE.

The company was optimistic about the second half of the fiscal: strong infrastructure demand and ongoing needs from the housing and commercial sectors are expected to boost cement demand during the period.

It said the Centre’s urban housing scheme and the government’s focus on infrastructure development will help the sector.

According to the company, strategic investments in roads, railways along with urban and commercial amenities is poised to drive robust growth in cement. The company expects demand in the current fiscal year to grow in the range of 4-5 per cent.