ORIENTCEM

In March 4 story, corrects paragraph 1 to clarify Ambuja Cements is buying Orient Cement, not India Cements

March 4 (Reuters) - India's antitrust watchdog, approved Ambuja Cements' ABUJ.NS acquisition of Orient Cement ORCE.NS on Tuesday, months after the Adani Group company first announced the deal.

Ambuja Cements, India's second-largest cement maker, in October revealed plans to buy stake worth $451 million in Orient Cement, intensifying competition with industry leader UltraTech Cement ULTC.NS.

Competition in the Indian cement sector has heated up recently, with UltraTech and the Adani Group companies striking a slew of deals to acquire smaller firms and expand their market share.

Analysts had doubted Ambuja's deal would win regulatory approval, considering recent acquisitions that have led to industry oversupply. Ambuja's shares fell 2.3% on October 22 when the deal was first announced.

Since October 22, Ambuja Cements' shares have dropped about 15%, while Orient Cements' shares have fallen nearly 5%.

In recent years, Ambuja has acquired smaller rivals Sanghi Industries SNGI.NS and Penna Cement PENC.NS.

(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)

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** Shares of Ambuja Cements ABUJ.NS climb 1.9% to 484 rupees, while Orient Cement ORCE.NS rises 2.3% to 334.95 rupees

** India's antitrust watchdog on Tuesday approved Ambuja's acquisition of Orient, months after the Adani Group company first announced the deal

** ORCE set for busiest trading session in over four months, with volumes at 6.8x the 30-day avg; ABUJ's vols relatively muted at about 0.3x its 30-day avg

** ABUJ on track to for biggest one-day gain in a month, ORCE for best day in more than 3 months

** ABUJ stock rated "buy' on avg, ORCE rated "sell" - data compiled by LSEG

** Ambuja and Orient are down about 11% and 4.5% YTD, respectively

(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru)

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March 4 (Reuters) - Ambuja Cements Ltd ABUJ.NS:

• INDIA COMPETITION REGULATOR: APPROVES PROPOSED ACQUISITION OF UP TO 72.8% STAKE OF ORIENT CEMENT BY AMBUJA CEMENTS

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: ABUJ.NS

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Feb 5 (Reuters) - Orient Cement Ltd ORCE.NS:

• ARBITRATION AWARD IN FAVOUR OF ORIENT CEMENT

• SCCL DIRECTED TO SUPPLY COAL WORTH 103.7 MILLION RUPEES TO ORIENT CEMENT

Source text: ID:nBSEQXZ3K

Further company coverage: ORCE.NS

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Jan 24 (Reuters) - Orient Cement Ltd ORCE.NS:

• ORIENT CEMENT Q3 NET PROFIT 101.4 MILLION RUPEES

• ORIENT CEMENT Q3 REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 6.43 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSEbmtyC

Further company coverage: ORCE.NS

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Dec 31 (Reuters) - Orient Cement Ltd ORCE.NS:

• ORIENT CEMENT - RECEIVES TAX DEMAND ORDER OF 64.6 MILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSEMTP2G

Further company coverage: ORCE.NS

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Dec 26 (Reuters) - Orient Cement Ltd ORCE.NS:

• ORIENT CEMENT-COURT GRANTS INTERIM RELIEF TO CO IN MATTER WITH MAHARASHTRA STATE POWER GENERATION CO

Source text: ID:nBSE3XCsNP

Further company coverage: ORCE.NS

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Dec 23 (Reuters) - Orient Cement Ltd ORCE.NS:

• ORIENT CEMENT LTD - RECEIVES DEMAND NOTE FROM MSPGCL

• ORIENT CEMENT LTD - DEMAND NOTE ISSUED FOR 87.1 MILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nNSE6YC2jm

Further company coverage: ORCE.NS

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Nov 8 (Reuters) - Orient Cement Ltd ORCE.NS:

• ORIENT CEMENT Q2 NET PROFIT 23.2 MILLION RUPEES

• ORIENT CEMENT Q2 REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 5.44 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE6KYsrC

Further company coverage: ORCE.NS

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Oct 22 (Reuters) - Ambuja Cements Ltd ABUJ.NS:

• ACQUIRES 37.90% OF ORIENT CEMENT FOR 395.40 RUPEES PER SHARE

• ACQUISITION OF ORIENT CEMENT

• ACQUIRES 8.90% OF ORIENT CEMENT FOR 395.40 RUPEES PER SHARE

• ADANI ACQUIRES ORIENT CEMENT AT 81 BILLION RUPEES EQUITY VALUE

• ACQUISITION OF 37.90% STAKE OF ORIENT CEMENT

• ACQUISITION WILL BE FULLY FUNDED THROUGH INTERNAL ACCRUALS

• DEAL FOR 395.40 RUPEESPER SHARE

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE592Tlb

Further company coverage: ABUJ.NS

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Oct 4 (Reuters) - Orient Cement Ltd ORCE.NS:

• MPPGCL HAS ISSUED WORK ORDER IN FAVOUR OF CO

• ORDER TO INSTALL CLINKER GRINDING UNIT AT SATPURA THERMAL POWER STATION

Source text for Eikon: [ID:]

Further company coverage: ORCE.NS

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Aug 5 (Reuters) - Orient Cement Ltd ORCE.NS:

• Q1 NET PROFIT 367.1 MILLION RUPEES

• Q1 REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 6.96 BILLION RUPEES

Further company coverage: ORCE.NS

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** Shares of India's Orient Cement ORCE.NS up 3% after rising as much as 5.3% earlier

** Local media reported Kumar Mangalam Birla-owned UltraTech Cement ULTC.NS in advanced talks to buy Orient Cement ORCE.NS, owned by his uncle's CK Birla group

** Separately, talks between CK Birla, Adani group at standstill over valuation, report adds

** ULTC, ORCE did not immediately respond to Reuters' queries seeking comment

** ORCE has cement assets in India's southern, western regions - markets seen ripe for further mergers, acquisitions

** ULTC up 0.4%; Adani's cement firms - ACC ACC.NS and Ambuja ABUJ.NS - down 0.6% and 0.7%

** ORCE trading vols 1.1x 30-day avg

** Stock up 37.3% since April report that Aditya Birla group in talks to buy total 37.9% stake of founder and allied entities

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

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BENGALURU, May 1 (Reuters) - India's Orient Cement ORCE.NS reported a higher fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by an increase in sales volume.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

While strong infrastructure and real estate demand benefitted Indian cement makers in the past few quarters, analysts estimate a softer demand in the first half of fiscal 2025 due to general elections and a likely healthy monsoon.

In the seasonally strong January-March quarter, cement makers resorted to aggressive discounts to meet fiscal-end volume targets amid tough competition, triggering a roughly 5% decline in cement prices sequentially to a two-year low.

BY THE NUMBERS

The company's net profit rose 1.2% to 682 million rupees ($8.2 million) in the quarter ended March.

Revenue from operations climbed 1.4% to 8.88 billion rupees, its slowest growth since September-quarter 2022 due to lower prices.

Total expenses were up 0.4%, mainly led by higher fuel costs, packing and freight expenses.

GRAPHIC

(Figures in percentage)

WHAT'S NEXT

The Aditya Birla group, which owns India's top cement producer UltraTech Cement ULTC.NS, is reportedly in advanced talks to buy the top shareholder's stake in Orient Cement.

The deal, if goes through, will boost the group's market share in central, western and southern regions of the country.

As of March, top shareholders - C K Birla, family and affiliated firms - held nearly 38% stake in Orient Cement.

($1 = 83.4620 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee and Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng)

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April 30 (Reuters) - Orient Cement Ltd ORCE.NS:

• COMMISSIONED 2ND PHASE OF WASTE HEAT RECOVERY SYSTEM AT CHITTAPUR INTEGRATED CEMENT PLANT

• GROSS POWER GENERATION CAPACITY OF WHRS AFTER COMMISSIONING OF 2ND PHASE IS 10.1 MW

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSEbJvfRw

Further company coverage: ORCE.NS

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** Shares of India's Orient Cement ORCE.NS up 3.2%, cooling off from a 11.3% jump earlier in the session

** Aditya Birla group, which owns market leader UltraTech Cement ULTC.NS, is in advanced talks to buy promoter stake in ORCE, ET Now reports

** Promoters hold 37.9% stake in ORCE, exchange data shows

** ORCE, Aditya Birla group did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment

** Co shares set to gain for the fifth straight session

** Trading vols at highest since mid-October

** Analysts' avg recommendation on ORCE is a "hold", compared to "buy" on UltraTech - LSEG data

** Stock trims YTD losses to 5%, while ULTC down more than 8%

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

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Feb 5 (Reuters) - Orient Cement Ltd ORCE.NS:

• DEC-QUARTER NET PROFIT 449.9 MILLION RUPEES VERSUS 275.2 MILLION RUPEES

• DEC-QUARTER REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 7.51 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS 7.32 BILLION RUPEES

• RE-APPOINTED DESH DEEPAK KHETRAPAL AS MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CEO

Further company coverage: ORCE.NS

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Oct 18 (Reuters) - Orient Cement Ltd ORCE.NS:

• ON REPORT CK BIRLA TAPS ADANI FOR STAKE SALE, SAYS "NOT PRIVY TO ANY SUCH DISCUSSION"

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE83w9Y1

Further company coverage: ORCE.NS

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Sept 29 (Reuters) - Orient Cement Ltd ORCE.NS:

• COMMISSIONED 1ST PHASE OF WASTE HEAT RECOVERY SYSTEM AT ITS CHITTAPUR INTEGRATED CEMENT PLANT

• GROSS POWER GENERATION CAPACITY OF WHRS, AFTER COMMISSIONING OF 2ND PHASE WILL BE 10.1 MW

Source text for Eikon: ID:nNSE79L1Ty

Further company coverage: ORCE.NS

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Aug 1 (Reuters) - Orient Cement Ltd ORCE.NS:

• INDIA'S ORIENT CEMENT JUNE-QUARTER NET PROFIT 370.3 MILLION RUPEES VERSUS PROFIT 374.2 MILLION RUPEES

• ORIENT CEMENT JUNE-QUARTER REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 8.25 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS 7.14 BILLION RUPEES

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE2vtlLq

Further company coverage: ORCE.NS

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April 28 (Reuters) - Orient Cement Ltd ORCE.NS:

• INDIA'S ORIENT CEMENT MARCH-QUARTER NET PROFIT 673.8 MILLION RUPEES VERSUS PROFIT 732.4 MILLION RUPEES

• ORIENT CEMENT MARCH-QUARTER REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 8.76 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS 8.04 BILLION RUPEES

• FINAL DIVIDEND OF 1 RUPEE PER SHARE

• GRANTED IN-PRINCIPLE APPROVAL FOR SHARE SUBSCRIPTION CUM SHAREHOLDERS AGREEMENT

• AGREEMENT WITH CLEANTECH SOLAR INDIA OA2 AND SPECIAL PURPOSE VEHICLE

• AGREEMENT FOR PUTTING UP SOLAR POWER PLANTS IN KARNATAKA AND MAHARASHTRA

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE1sxz57

Further company coverage: ORCE.NS

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