Greenply Q3 net up 5% at Rs 10 cr

Plywood manufacturer Greenply Industries today reported a five per cent increase in net profit at Rs 10.32 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2008, as against Rs 9.80 crore a year ago.

The company said its net sales stood at Rs 179 crore for the quarter as against Rs 139 crore in the same period previous year, up by 29 per cent.

"We have improved our distributors and traders this time and this has help improved our market reach. Besides, we have a better product mix and have a higher capacity utilisation," Greenply Managing Director Rajesh Mittal said.

He, however, said the company's net profit margin has come down to 5.75 per cent during the third quarter as against 7.04 per cent in the corresponding period a year ago due to fluctuating foreign exchange and high raw material cost.

"Our profit margin after tax for the third quarter of FY09 has come down to 5.75 per cent. In the same quarter last fiscal, we had almost 7.04 per cent. This is mainly due to the fluctuating foreign exchange since almost 40 per cent of the raw material are imported," he said.

For the nine-month ended December 2008, the company's net profit was down by four per cent to Rs 28.72 crore, as compared to Rs 30.06 crore in the same period of last fiscal.

Net sales for the nine months ended December 31, 2008, grew by 43 per cent to Rs 558 crore as compared with Rs 391 crore in the same period last year.