India Cements Ltd's (ICL) reported performance came in better than expectation as operating income witnessed a growth of ~24% yoy and ~7% qoq to Rs1.95bn above our estimate of Rs1.65bn. A substantial jump in realizations (up ~19% yoy) resulted in strong operating performance. However, sales volume remained tepid at 2.1mnT (down ~18% yoy) owing to persisting weak demand in its key markets. Cement operating cost/tonne increased by ~13% yoy on account of: a) DMFF provisioning of Rs170mn, b) royalty hike in limestone, c) higher freight costs due to railway freight hike and d) change in market mix. We maintain BUY on the stock...