3 mid-cap cement stocks trading at up to 68% discount to ultratech

The June 2026 quarter was difficult for cement companies— in terms of rising operational costs and sluggish price realisations on all-India basis.

Investors have been keen to understand the performance of cement companies in this tough operating environment.

To help readers get an insight, we delved into the numbers of 3 mid-cap cement companies, in terms of market capitalisation, and also operating in different parts of the country – Dalmia Bharat, Nuvoco Vistas Corporation and The India Cements.

Dalmia Bharat: How Eastern Region Pricing Pressures Squeezed Core Margins

Dalmia Bharat sold 7.6 million tonnes of cement in the June 2026 quarter, a rise of 8.6% y-o-y, The company is a pan India player, and it is the fourth-largest player, in terms of its capacity of 54.7 million tonnes. Its realisations were broadly flat y-o-y at Rs 5,118 per tonne. Cement companies faced pricing pressures in the southern and eastern region in the quarter under review. In the eastern region it was owing to elections in West Bengal and the resulting sluggish trend in construction activities.

As a result, Dalmia Bharat’s consolidated revenue from operations rose just 7% y-o-y to Rs 3,890 crore in the June 2026 quarter.

However, UltraTech Cement, the largest cement company in the country with a capacity of more than 200 million tonnes, improved its realisations by nearly 1.7% y-o-y to Rs 5,966 per tonne . The company has a strong presence in the western region where prices were strong.

Navigating the Energy Crunch: Rising Power Costs vs. Freight Efficiency

Meanwhile, key costs for Dalmia Bharat, power and fuel costs, rose 8% y-o-y to Rs 1,119.7 on a per tonne basis on account of higher input pet coke prices. To deal with rising power and fuel costs, Dalmia Bharat has highlighted renewable energy accounted for 48% of its energy requirements as compared to 41% a year earlier.

To the company’s credit, other key input costs, like freight charges, were broadly flat at Rs 1,132 per tonne during the quarter, and that’s because the company has reduced the distance the cement travels in its marketing network by 1% y-o-y to 277 km.

The UltraTech Comparison: Why the Market Leader Retained Margin Superiority

However, UltraTech Cement’s core operating profit (EBITDA) per tonne was broadly flat y-o-y at Rs 1,215 per tonne in the quarter under review. The company has kept a tight control on operating costs via enhanced use of renewable energy and reduced distance its products travel in its marketing network. As a result, its operating profit margin was also broadly flat at 20.4%.

Dalmia Bharat also had a one-time exceptional expense of Rs 182 crore in the June 2026 quarter related to the acquisition of 5.2 million tonnes on a slump sale basis of Jaiprakash Associates. The additional capacity is located in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, and the company’s capacity reached 54.7 million tonnes at the end of Q1FY27.

As a result, Dalmia Bharat’s consolidated net profit declined nearly 51% y-o-y to Rs 192 crore.

Nuvoco Vistas: Western Region Pricing Power Drives a 19% Profit Surge

Nuvoco Vistas Corporation sold 5.3 million tonnes in the June 2026 quarter, a rise of 3.9% y-o-y. The company’s cement is sold in eastern, northern and western regions.

Its realisations grew 4.8% y-o-y to Rs 5,900 per tonne, and that was thanks to firmer prices in the western region.

As a result, its net sales rose 8.9 % y-o-y to Rs 3,128.7 crore.

The company also faced a rising cost structure – its power and fuel costs rose nearly 4.9% y-o-y on a per tonne basis to Rs 1,056 per tonne. The company has 50 MW renewable energy capacity, too, however, that could not prevent the rise in power and fuel costs.

The India Cements: Aggressive Cost Controls Engineer a Turnaround from Losses

The India Cements grew its volumes by 18.5% y-o-y to 2.58 million tonne in the first quarter of FY27. During the quarter, the company has focused on improving capacity utilization levels. The company has a strong focus in the southern region.

A similar trend was also seen in the March 2026 quarter, where the company’s sales volumes increased 18% y-o-y to 3.1 million tonnes, and the company had highlighted capacity utilization increased 11% y-o-y to 84%.

Meanwhile, its realisations declined nearly 16% y-o-y to Rs 3,951 per tonne in the June 2026 quarter. Its net sales were broadly flat at Rs 1,019.4 crore.

To the company’s credit it has kept a tight check on operating costs — its power and fuel costs dropped nearly 6% y-o-y to Rs 1,642 per tonne, and the company has increased the proportion of renewable energy. The company’s freight costs also declined to Rs 20 crore as compared to Rs 199.6 crore a year earlier.

As a result, its core operating profit (EBIDTA) per tonne also grew 44.2% y-o-y to Rs per tonne.

A tight check on operating costs enabled the company to report a net profit of Rs 26.8 crore in the June 2026 quarter as compared to a net loss of Rs 131.4 crore a year earlier.

The H2 FY27 Growth Outlook: Capacity Expansion Meets Monsoon Headwinds

Investors will be closely watching Dalmia Bharat for integrating the additional 5.2 million tonnes it has recently acquired, and growing its operations on a pan India basis.

Meanwhile, Nuvoco Vistas Corporation brought on stream additional capacity of 2 million tonnes in July 2026, and its current capacity is 27 million tonnes, as per the results presentation for the first quarter of FY27. The incremental capacity is expected to help the company in expanding its operations in the September 2026 quarter itself.

Investors will also be closely monitoring cement companies’ ability to keep a tight check on operating costs, going forward. The second quarter of a financial year is the monsoon season in most parts of the country, with curtailed construction activity and cement realisations are often under pressure.

EV/Tonne Showdown: Valuing the 60% Mid-Cap Discount Against UltraTech

Dalmia Bharat trades on the preferred valuation matrix of enterprise value (EV) per tonne of nearly $ 76.8.

Meanwhile, Nuvoco Vistas Corporation trades at $ 60 per tonne and The India Cements trades at $ 93 per tonne.

And UltraTech Cement trades at $ 188 per tonne.

Company Name	Enterprise value per tonne ($)
Dalmia Bharat	$76.8
Nuvoco Vistas Corporation	$ 60
The India Cements	$ 93
UltraTech Cement	$ 188

Source – Company results and Screener.in

Mid-cap cement companies trade at upto 68% discount to UltraTech Cement. Readers can add these cement stocks to their watchlist of stocks for 2026 , to see if their performance matches expectations and whether the valuation gap narrows.

Disclaimer:

Amriteshwar Mathur is a financial journalist with over 20 years of experience.

The writer and his family have no shareholding in any of the stocks mentioned in the article.

Disclaimer: The website managers, its employee(s), and contributors/writers/authors of articles have or may have an outstanding buy or sell position or holding in the securities, options on securities or other related investments of issuers and/or companies discussed therein. The content of the articles and the interpretation of data are solely the personal views of the contributors/ writers/authors. Investors must make their own investment decisions based on their specific objectives, resources and only after consulting such independent advisors as may be necessary.

YoY Growth (%)	Dalmia Bharat	Nuvoco Vistas Corporation	The India Cements	UltraTech Cement
Realisations	Flat	4.8%	-16%	1.7%
Net sales	7%	8.9%	Flat	15.9%
Core operating profit (EBITDA) per tonne	– 5%	5.5%	44.2%	Flat