Kesoram Q4 results: Net loss widens to Rs 244 crore, sales marginally up

B K Birla Group company Kesoram Industries Ltd posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 244.42 crore for the quarter ended March 2024, despite higher sales.

The cement maker's net loss in the fourth quarter of the 2023-24 fiscal (FY'24) has widened from Rs 48.86 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Consolidated sales during the quarter under review stood at Rs 1,073 crore as against Rs 960 crore registered in Q4 FY'23, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The net loss in 2023-24 nearly doubled to Rs 384 crore as compared to the Rs 194 crore loss posted in the previous year.

Cement accounts for almost 94 per cent of its total revenue, while the rest comes from segments like rayon, transparent paper, and chemicals.

Company officials attributed the loss in the January-March quarter to higher costs and the repayment of its high-cost NCDs of Rs 1,683 crore as part of swapping its debt.

Kesoram Industries has decided to sell its cement business to UltraTech Cement for Rs 7,600 crore, and the Competition Commission has already approved the deal.

However, the demerger is yet to be effected until all regulatory approvals are in place.

As such approvals are pending, no effect of the proposed scheme has been considered in the books of account, the company added.