Credit Suisse maintains negative outlook for large Indian cement companies

Credit Suisse maintains negative outlook for large-cap cement stocks, due to expensive valuations and low growth prospects, the Economic Times of India reports.

Cement prices in May declined by 2-6 per cent across regions in India, which is an unseasonal trend, Credit Suisse said. ??Demand was also cited to be weak, which is however, contrary to the double digit volume growth posted by Ultratech Cement and Ambuja Cement in May.

Any adverse ruling by monopoly regulator on cartelisation can impact pricing power of cement companies, it said. ??Investment bank rates ACC and UltraTech as 'Underperform' and Ambuja as 'Neutral'.