Birla Corp Q3 net at Rs 27 crore on higher sales

Cement major Birla Corporation Ltd Tuesday reported a net profit of Rs 27.4 crore in the Q3 period ended December 2018, against a loss of Rs 21.8 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Net sales for the quarter under review was Rs 1556.9 crore up 12 per cent against 1387.8 crore in the same period FY18', the company reported.

Ebita expanded close to 50 per cent to Rs 217.7 crore.

Cement production was at 3.21 million tonne for the quarter and in the nine month period total production stood at 9.86 million tonne.

"The operations of the company in the December quarter showed remarkable improvement owing to higher sales and better realisations in key markets despite significant headwinds such as escalation in the cost of pet coke and coal," the company said in a statement.

"Though the price of diesel has started to soften, it is still up by more than 20 per cent from the beginning of the current financial year. It has pushed up transportation cost of both raw materials and finished goods," the company said.