Piramal Enterprises Q4 net loss at Rs 311 cr

Piramal Enterprises today posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 311.35 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014, due to higher finance costs.
The company had posted a net loss of Rs 200.41 crore during the same period of previous fiscal.
Net sales of the company stood at Rs 1,110.38 crore for the last quarter of FY14, as against Rs 926.93 crore during the same period of previous fiscal, Piramal Enterprises said in a filing to the BSE.
For the year ended March 31, 2014, the company posted a net loss of Rs 501.41 crore as against that of Rs 227.29 crore in 2012-13.

"The financing costs for FY 2014 were higher at Rs 1,049.6 crore compared to Rs 575 crore in FY 2013, as the company raised funds for expanding its financial services busineses," the company said.
These financing costs include one-time financing charges of Rs 178 crore on account of discounting of receivables for investing in lending operations and in acquiring stakes in Shriram Group entities, it added.

Net sales of the company stood at Rs 4,464.43 crore for the fiscal ended March 31, 2014. The same stood at Rs 3,495.94 crore during the 2012-13 fiscal.
"The figures for the year ended March 31, 2014 are not comparable to the previous year ended March 31, 2013 on account of acquisition of Decision Resources Group in June 2012," the company said.

The company's board, which met today, approved a dividend of Rs 52.50 per equity share.
"This will result in a total outlay of Rs 1,059.93 crore including the dividend distribution tax," the company said.
In a separate filing, the company said its board has also approved to merge subsidiaries --PHL Capital Pvt Ltd, Piramal Pharmaceutical Development Services Pvt Ltd and Oxygen Bio Research Pvt Ltd--with the firm.
Piramal Enterprises shares today closed at Rs 554.10 apiece on the BSE, up 1.52 per cent from previous close.