Birla Corporation's net jumps 306 percent in Q4

Birla Corporation on Friday announced that its standalone net profit for the last quarter of 2015-16 soared a whopping 306 percent to Rs.115.66 crore as compared to Rs. 28.46 crore for same period a year ago.

The flagship company of the M.P. Birla Group also reported that its total income from operations for the quarter under review rose to Rs.867 crore as compared to Rs.797 crore in the same quarter last year.

The firm's EBIDTA per tonne of cement during the quarter was substantially higher at Rs.923, as compared to that the previous year, the company said in a statement.

During the quarter it saw the highest ever cement despatch of 22.06 lakh tonnes, up over 17 percent from the year before it, according to a statement.

The profit after tax for 2015-16 was however lower at Rs.157.35 crore, against Rs.175.44 crore in 2014-15.

"Both the cement and jute divisions of the company performed well during the quarter under review owing to higher production and substantially better operational efficiency. Had cement prices not remained subdued, the cement division could have shown even better results," said company chairman H.V. Lodha.

During this year, the company signed a definitive share purchase agreement with Reliance Infrastructure Limited for acquisition of its entire cement business for an enterprise value of Rs.4,800 crore.

The Kolkata-based company said the acquisition will provide the company ownership of modern plants and take its total cement production capacity from 9.8 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 15.4 mtpa, strengthening its presence in the high growth central region.

Birla Corporation's scrip on Friday closed at Rs. 400.65, up 6.33 percent on BSE from the previous close.

--IANS

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