Grasim Industries, an Aditya Birla group company, has posted a 15.3% rise in net profit at ₹1,164 crore for the quarter ended September, driven by the performance of its cement and financial services subsidiaries. In comparison, the company had posted a net profit of ₹1,009 crore during the same period a year ago.
During the quarter under review, the company’s revenue rose 10% to ₹30,221 crore, compared with ₹27,486 crore recorded during the same period a year ago, Grasim Industries said in a statement, adding the revenue increase was due to the performance of key subsidiaries – UltraTech Cement and Aditya Birla Capital (ABCL).
Its Ebitda rose 31.8% to ₹6,053 crore from ₹4,592 crore recorded during the same period a year ago.
In Q2, UltraTech Cement’s sales volume rose 16% on a year-on-year basis to 26.69 million tonne per annum (MTPA), while consolidated net sales rose by 15% to ₹16,012 crore over the corresponding period of the previous year. The company had earlier announced an investment of ₹13,000 crore to hike capacity by another 21.9 MTPA through a mix of brownfield and greenfield projects.
Its financial services subsidiary ABCL’s consolidated revenue rose 13% to ₹7,721 crore, while it posted a 44% rise in net profit at ₹705 crore. The momentum across businesses led to a 41% YoY and 8% sequential growth in the overall lending portfolio to ₹1,08,961 crore as of September 30, it added.
However, on a standalone basis, Grasim Industries’ net profit fell 24% to ₹795 crore, impacted by lower realisations in the caustic soda business, which was in line with a sharp decline in global prices. Its revenue fell 4% to ₹6,442 crore, while Ebitda declined 21% to ₹1,354 crore.
Grasim Industries’ total capex outlay for the quarter was at ₹1,650 crore, of which ₹1,269 crore was for its paints business. The company’s board on Monday approved an additional capex of ₹144 crore for different businesses, and another ₹138 crore for the current fiscal.
The budgeted spend for FY24 stands revised at ₹5,929 crore, it added. Grasim Industries had spent ₹4,307 crore as capex in FY23.
The company’s Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF) volumes grew by 24% YoY and over 12% QoQ to reach 210 kilo tonne (KT). The Viscose business reported revenue of ₹3,889 crore and EBITDA of ₹468 crore for the quarter, marking a sequential increase of 9% and 20%, respectively.
Its caustic soda sales volume rose 5% QoQ and 3% YoY to 306 KT in Q2. The chemicals business revenue stood at ₹1,988 crore, down 7% QoQ and 27% YoY, primarily due to lower caustic soda realisations.