Grasim Industries net profit up 50% in Q2

Grasim Industries Limited, a flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, on Friday posted a 50 per cent jump in its consolidated net profit to Rs 846 crore in the quarter ended September 30, compared to Rs 562 crore in the same period last year.

The profit increased due to "higher operating leverage and lower interest cost", said the company.

Revenue during the quarter under review was at Rs 8,387 crore, up by 2.7 percent as against Rs 8,166 crore in the same period last year.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) at Rs 2,098 crore was up by 29 per cent, driven by the good performance from all the businesses.

In the viscose staple fibre (VSF) business, overall sales volume grew by 9 per centled by 19 per cent growth in domestic markets, while sales volume in chemical business, was up by 8 per cent, mainly on account of additional volume from the Ganjam plant which was acquired in September 2015.

Company's cement subsidiary UltraTech's revenue (net of excise) stood at Rs 5,772 crore as compared to Rs.5,919 crore in July-September period last year.

The company said that the process of seeking requisite regulatory approvals for "the scheme of merger of Aditya Birla Nuvo with Grasim and subsequent demerger and listing of the financial services business" was in progress.

The transaction is expected to be completed by last quarter of this fiscal or first quarter of the next fiscal.

--IANS

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