1. At a Glance
Ladies and gentlemen, gather your construction helmets and accounting calculators. Saurashtra Cement Ltd (SCL) — the Mehta Group’s dual personality child producing both Hathi Cement and Snowcem Paints — just dropped its Q2FY26 results with all the excitement of a cricket match that got washed out after three overs.
Revenue came in at ₹39,562.87 lakh (₹395.6 crore), but the company still managed to post a loss of ₹11 crore. Yes, you read that right — for every tonne of cement they sold, it seems like the profits got mixed in the wrong ratio of water to concrete.
With a market cap of ₹1,086 crore and a share price hovering around ₹97.6, the company trades at a P/E of 37.7x — a number that would make any sane value investor squint and double-check the EPS. The return on equity? 0.23%. Basically, the shareholders’ money is lying at the construction site, waiting for someone to pour results over it.
But don’t underestimate this 1956-born dinosaur. It’s ISO-certified, runs cement and paint operations across India, and is trying to reinvent itself faster than your neighbourhood contractor changes his cement supplier. The latest Hathi Prime PPC cement and a range of new Snowcem paints show they’re not afraid of trying — even if the profit margin remains thinner than a coat of interior emulsion.
2. Introduction
Saurashtra Cement’s story is classic old-money Gujarat: a cement legacy brand that’s seen multiple business cycles, mergers, and boardroom shifts, but continues to soldier on like the proverbial Hathi in its brand name — slow, steady, but sometimes lost in fog.
At ₹97.6 a share, investors are left wondering: is this stock building wealth or just laying the foundation for nostalgia? The Mehta Group, which owns 66.7%, has been around long enough to remember when cement bags cost ₹25. The company, headquartered in Ranavav, Gujarat, still delivers to Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and the West Coast. Cement isn’t glamorous — but neither is paint thinner, and they sell both.
The challenge? Profitability swings like a pendulum in a JCB bucket. In Q2FY26, sales fell from ₹424 crore to ₹386 crore QoQ, while net profit slipped from ₹17 crore to a ₹11 crore loss. It’s not entirely surprising, though: cement companies thrive on monsoon demand and die by power costs, freight hikes, and tax notices. And oh boy, Saurashtra Cement has had plenty of those.
Between Income Tax orders enhancing income by ₹9.83 crore, demand notices totaling ₹16.56 crore, and a CFO resignation chain longer than a wedding baraat, the boardroom drama is giving Balaji Telefilms a run for its money.
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
So what exactly does Saurashtra Cement do besides confusing accountants with its dual identity?
The main gig is cement — Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC), Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC 53 grade), and Portland Slag Cement (PSC). Their brands “Hathi Cement” and “Sidhee Cement” are fairly well-known in the western states. Cement forms ~95% of FY24 revenue, with Clinker at 3% and Paints at 2%.
The paint division is the younger, sassier cousin called Snowcem Paints. You might remember those 90s TV ads — “Snowcem Paints, the house that shines!” Well, the shine has faded a bit, but management’s trying to repaint the legacy with new products like “OutWeather” (exterior emulsion), “SnowCoat” (interior), and “Damp Proof” (because, irony).
They’ve also launched Hathi Prime, a premium cement product. And because the Mehta Group doesn’t like half-measures, they run two cement plants in Gujarat (Ranavav and Sidheegram) and three paint plants across Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu.
In short: they’re trying to build your house
