UltraTech Cement is likely to report a 30-50 per cent drop in the July-September quarter net profit on higher interest cost and depreciation related to acquisition of Jaiprakash Associates six integrated cement plants and five grinding units, having a capacity of 21.2Mt, reports The Economic Times.

Net sales are forecast to rise 17-18 per cent for the quarter, the paper reports. The cement maker is scheduled to report its results later in the day.

According to Centrum, the cement maker may report an adjusted net profit of INR420.3bn(US$6.4bn) down 30 per cent on YoY basis or 52.8 per cent on QoQ basis.The brokerage expects the
company to report 17 per cent YoY growth (down 3.6 per cent sequentially) in net sales to
INR63,850m.

Motilal Oswal Securities expects the company to report volumes at 12.77Mt for the quarter. This includes volumes of JPA's asset. On a standalone basis, volumes are seen rising four per
cent YoY for the cement maker.