Mawana Sugars loss widens to Rs 30 cr in June qtr

Mawana Sugars Ltd today posted a standalone net loss of Rs 30.35 crore in the quarter ended June 30, due to significant losses from sale of the sweetener.
The UP-based company had posted a net loss of Rs 24.52 crore in the same period last year, it said in a BSE filing.
Total income rose marginally to Rs 320.58 crore in the quarter from Rs 278.55 crore in the year-ago period on account of higher revenue from the distillery business.
The losses from the sugar business widened to Rs 30.22 crore from Rs 10.30 crore in the said period last year.

Mawana Sugars said: "The company over the last few years has been incurring cash losses due to which its net worth has been completely eroded and its current liabilities are far in excess of its current assets."
The Indian sugar industry, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, has faced difficulties on account of increased sugarcane prices and lower recovery of sugar from cane, very low and further declining sugar prices and consequential under recovery of cost of production, it said in the filing.

"These factors have adversely affected the company's operations and financial performance. Higher finance costs have also added to the cash losses," it added.

In a separate filing, the company said it "has so far not been able to pay the cane dues of the farmers for the crushing season 2014-15 (October-September) and there is no likelihood of it being able to clear these dues except from the sale proceeds of sugar produced in the next crushing season starting December 2015."
If the state advisory price (of cane) to be declared by the UP government remains at the present level or higher, commencement of crushing will only result into further losses which the company is in no position to afford, it said.
The company has already been referred to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) and further losses will only cause its rehabilitation to be even more difficult, it added.

The company said it will commence crushing operation in the next year in three sugar mills at Mawana, Nanglamal and Titawi in Uttar Pradesh.