Kajaria Ceramics exits from plywood business due to continued losses

Kajaria Ceramics, a leading manufacturer of ceramic and vitrified tiles, said it has exited its loss-making plywood business.

The board of the company on Tuesday "approved to discontinue the operations of Kajaria Plywood, wholly owned subsidiary due to lack of strategic fit & continued losses", Kajaria Ceramics informed the bourses.

The company has fully impaired its investment and loan to Kajaria Plywood, amounting to Rs 112.38 crore, and expects to close the plywood business by June 30, 2025.

Kajaria Ceramics, on Tuesday, declared its results for the March quarter, in which its consolidated profit declined 58.6 per cent to Rs 43.18 crore, due to settlement with JV partners and vendors of the plywood business.

It was at Rs 104.27 crore in the January-March period a year ago.

"Profit after tax for Q4FY25 was Rs 43 crore as compared to Rs 102 crore in Q4FY24, mainly due to additional provision in plywood division for settlement with JV partners and vendors," said its Chairman Ashok Kajaria in its earnings statement.

Its revenue from operations was up 1.13 per cent to Rs 1,221.85 crore in the March quarter of FY25, due to softness in demand.

"In Q4 FY25, we witnessed very soft demand in the domestic as well as export market. We could grow our tile volume by 2 per cent in Q4 FY25," it said.

Total expenses of Kajaria Ceramics were up 4.65 per cent to Rs 1,132.91 crore in the March quarter.

"The EBITDA margin during the quarter under review stood at 10 per cent. The reasons for the decline in margin are another muted quarter of the bathware division, some loss in UK operation and provision of doubtful debts in the plywood division, as we have decided to close this division," said Ashok Kajaria.

For the financial year, which ended March 31, 2025, Kajaria Ceramics' profit was down 30.57 per cent to Rs 300.02 crore.

Its total revenue in FY25 was up 3.6 per cent to Rs 4,635.07 crore.

Shares of Kajaria Ceramics Ltd on Tuesday settled at Rs 799.75 on the BSE, down 2.87 per cent from the previous close.