Grasim Industries net rises a bit to Rs 333.6 cr

Aditya Birla Group firm Grasim Industries on Saturday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 333.6 crore for the quarter ended December.

The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 332 crore during the same period of the previous financial year, it said in a filing to the BSE.

The company reported consolidated net sales of Rs 7,888 crore in the period against Rs 7,063 crore last year.

The consolidated revenue from its viscose staple fibre  and wood pulp segment was Rs 1,607 crore during the quarter against Rs 1,613 crore in the same period last year.     Its consolidated revenue from cement division was Rs 5,947.15 crore this quarter. It was Rs 5,169.59 crore in third quarter of FY14.

Revenue from chemicals division was Rs 441.63 crore this quarter as against Rs 259.73 crore in same period last fiscal.

Grasim Industries said "figures for the quarter and nine months ended December 2014 are strictly not comparable with previous periods" due to merger of Gujarat cement units of Jaypee Cement with UltraTech Cement, a subsidiary of the company.

On the company's performance, Grasim Industries said: "Implementation of growth plans led to significant capacity increase in both VSF and cement businesses. At the greenfield VSF project at Vilayat, 99K TPA capacity has been commissioned during the year. With acquisition of Jaypee cement units in Gujarat, the cement capacity increased by 4.8 million."

On the outlook, the company said VSF sector will continue to face headwinds for some more time due to over capacity and sharp reduction in price of cotton and polyester.

Moreover, cement segment would grow as demand growth in the long term is likely to be over eight per cent.

"With additional capacity coming on stream in both the businesses, the company will further consolidate its leadership position," it added.