Grasim Industries, an Aditya Birla Group company, has posted a 44% rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 2,516 crore for the third quarter ended December. This included a one-time gain of ₹1,492 crore. In comparison, the company had posted a net profit of Rs 1,746 crore during the same period a year ago.
The net profit for the quarter included a fair value gain of Rs 1,492 crore recognised by Aditya Birla Capital, a subsidiary, after the acquisition of 9.99% stake by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s entities in Aditya Bira Health Insurance. Excluding the fair value gain, the company’s net profit stood at Rs 1,024 crore, a 41.35% fall from the year-ago period.
During the quarter under review, the company’s consolidated revenue rose 17% to ₹28,638 crore from ₹24,402 crore recorded during the same period of last financial year. The growth in revenue was driven by strong performance of its subsidiaries UltraTech Cement and Aditya Birla Capital, the company said in a statement.
Grasim Industries’ consolidated Ebitda for the quarter fell to Rs 3,834 crore from ₹4,107 crore recorded in Q3 of FY22, impacted mainly by cost pressures in standalone businesses and UltraTech Cement.
The revenue for the company’s viscose business fell by 5% year-on-year to Rs 3,182 crore and Ebitda was down 84% at Rs 63 crore. The lower operating rates of Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF) at 71% coupled with pressure on pricing and high input costs have resulted in negative Ebitda in VSF business for Q3. However, this was offset by good performance of Viscose Filament Yarn business, it said.
During the quarter, the company’s chlor-alkali (caustic soda) volumes were up 2% year-on-year to 284 kilo tonne (KT). There was a slight tapering in demand on a quarter-on-quarter basis due to softness in sectors such as textiles, pharmaceuticals and others.
The total capex spent towards paints business till December 31, 2022, stood at Rs 1,817 crore, which was about 18% of the total planned outlay for the business. The total capex for all other businesses was Rs 1,370 crore for the nine-month period ended December against a budget of Rs 3,498 crore for FY23. The board has also approved an investment of Rs 363 crore for chlorine derivatives projects in the chemicals business.
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The cement sales, through UltraTech Cement, volume stood at 26 MTPA, up 12% y-o-y. Its capacity utilisation for the quarter stood at 83% compared with 75% in Q3FY22.