Grasim Industries Ltd, an Aditya Birla Group company, on Tuesday reported a growth of 61% in its consolidated net profit to Rs 1,080 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2009. The net profit included an extraordinary gain of Rs 336 crore (net of tax) arising from the sale of sponge iron business. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 672 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
However, excluding the extraordinary gains, Grasims net profit during the quarter grew just 11% to Rs 744 crore. The company’s consolidated net revenue stood at Rs 5,123 crore, up 15% from Rs 4,448 crore in Q1 of FY09.
Results for the quarter under review are not strictly comparable owing to sale of the sponge iron unit effective from May 22, 2009, and consolidation of Idea Cellular Ltd as an associate from January 1, 2009, as against a JV earlier, the company said.
“Cement business has been the key contributor during the quarter. The company has posted higher profit despite the adverse performance of the sponge iron business, which was disposed of during the year,” said Adesh Gupta, chief financial officer.
Cement production grew by 23% at 4.91 million tonne during the quarter whereas production of viscose staple fibre (VSF) grew by 7% at 62,352 tonne.
Shares of Grasim on Tuesday slipped 1.77% to close at Rs 2,837 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Overall capacity of Grasim and UltraTech stood at 45.65 million tonne at the end of the first quarter. Upon the commissioning of the grinding unit at Kotputli in Rajasthan by the end of Q3 of FY10, the overall capacity of the company will further expand to 48.8 million tonne.
“Grasim has earmarked upon a total capital outlay of Rs 4,160 crore for the cement business (including the outlay of Rs 2,055 crore at UltraTech). It will be spent over the next two years,” said Gupta.