Ambuja Cements fourth-quarter profit jumps as sales volume rises

(Reuters) - Ambuja Cements Ltd reported an 89 percent jump in quarterly profit on Tuesday, helped by higher cement sales volume.

Standalone profit rose to 3.38 billion rupees ($52.2 million) in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from 1.79 billion rupees a year earlier. https://bsmedia.business-standard.combit.ly/2BBr0QZ

Standalone cement sales volume rose to 5.87 million tonnes in the quarter, from 5 million tonnes in the same period last year.

Net quarterly sales rose 19 percent to 26.12 billion rupees.

Analysts on average had expected the company, part of Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim Ltd, to post a standalone profit of 2.47 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters data.

($1 = 64.8150 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Vishal Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)