ACC Ltd – From Cement Bags to Adani Tags, EBITDA Doubles but Stock Stumbles
1. At a Glance
ACC Ltd, born in 1936 and now adopted by the Adani Group, is the kind of cement company that doesn’t just sell cement—it sells the dream of your house standing longer than your political promises. With 20 cement plants, 86 RMC units, and a fat ₹22,743 Cr sales in FY25, the company still trades at a humble P/E of ~15 while peers act like they’re selling iPhones instead of grey powder. Yet, despite doubling EBITDA/tonne in FY24, the stock has been punished with a -25% 1-year return. Why? Because the market hates efficiency unless it comes with a Netflix subscription.
2. Introduction
Imagine being in the cement business: you dig limestone, burn it at a temperature hotter than Delhi summers, and then hope real estate developers don’t ghost you on payments. That’s ACC’s life story in one line.
ACC has been through multiple owners—Holcim, Ambuja, and now Adani—like a Bollywood actor who changes managers every flop. The company runs on two main products:
Cement (94% of revenue) – grey gold for mass housing.
Ready-Mix Concrete (6%) – for urban jungles and impatient contractors.
The stock is now Adani’s stepchild, thanks to the 2022 mega-deal where Gautam Bhai dropped ₹50,181 Cr like it was pocket change. Since then, ACC’s board meetings probably start with: “Boss, Hindenburg ne aaj kya likha?”
Still, the company has pulled off serious cost rationalization, bringing per-tonne costs down nearly 15% and boosting EBITDA/tonne by 97%. But the stock market doesn’t care. It only wants “growth story,” not “cost cutting uncle.”
Now the big question: is ACC a phoenix rising from limestone dust or just an old elephant learning TikTok dances?
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Okay, cement is boring, but let’s dress it up. ACC makes:
Gold Range – fancy cement names like “ACC Gold Water Shield” and “ACC F2R Superfast.” Basically, cement that sounds like it can survive an alien invasion.
Silver Range – affordable cement for middle-class wallets (Suraksha Power, HPC Long Life). Tagline should be: “Zyada mat socho, ghar banega aur tikhega.”
Then comes Ready-Mix Concrete (RMC). ACC has 86 plants churning out instant concrete for metro projects, malls, and flyovers that take forever to complete. They even slap jazzy names like ECOMAxX and AEROMAxX, because nothing says innovation like adding “xX” to a cement bag.
And if plain cement wasn’t enough, ACC also sells construction chemicals, dry mix, and admixtures—basically masala packets for your concrete biryani.
Business is domestic heavy: 86% sales in India, 14% exports. With retail contributing 72% of sales, ACC is basically the Kirana store of cement.
4. Financials Overview
Metric
Latest Qtr (Jun’25)
YoY Qtr (Jun’24)
Prev Qtr (Mar’25)
YoY %
QoQ %
Revenue (₹ Cr)
6,087
5,199
6,115
17.1%
-0.5%
EBITDA (₹ Cr)
778
679
830
14.6%
-6.3%
PAT (₹ Cr)
375
360
751
4.2%
-50.1%
EPS (₹)
20.0
19.1
39.9
4.7%
-49.9%
Commentary: Quarter looked like a cement mixer gone wrong. Revenues held up, EBITDA stable, but PAT fell 50% QoQ as other income dried faster than RMC in Rajasthan heat. Annualized EPS (₹80) gives a P/E of ~23, but trailing EPS (₹129) keeps it at ~15. So, depends which goggles you wear—optimist’s or auditor’s.
EV/EBITDA: EV ~₹33,531 Cr, EBITDA ~₹4,230 Cr → EV/EBITDA ~7.9 vs peers 11–15. Fair EV range = ₹46,000 – ₹63,000 Cr → Per share value = ₹2,450 – ₹3,350.
