Grasim Q1 net up 61% to Rs 1,080 cr

Grasim Industries, part of the Aditya Birla group, has posted a rise of 61 per cent in its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended June 30 at Rs 1,080 crore, compared with Rs 672 crore in the previous corresponding quarter. The company’s net sales during the period grew to Rs 5,123 crore, 15 per cent higher than Rs 4,448 crore last year.

The robust performance of the cement business — which contributed close to 80 per cent to the company’s consolidated revenue during the quarter — and the extraordinary gain of Rs 336 crore arising from the sale of company’s sponge iron business helped Grasim post a good quarterly show.

The company also has interests in viscose staple fibre (VSF), pulp, chemicals, fabric and yarn, from which, however, it could manage a revenue of around Rs 1,100 crore only. This is a decline of 20 per cent compared with the Rs 1,370 crore generated in the corresponding period last year. The company has earmarked a capital outlay of Rs 4,160 crore only for the cement segment in the next two years. It includes Rs 2,055 crore for UltraTech Cement — a wholly owned subsidiary of Grasim which is solely into cement business.

In VSF segment, though there was volume growth , the realisation compared with the corresponding quarter last year was 4 per cent lower. The company,said in its outlook: “With substantial increase in capacities, improved cost optimisation, higher productivity and strong fundamentals, the prospects for the company in the long-term remain positive, though there may be a bumpy road in the immediate future.”