MUMBAI: Aditya Birla group flagship Grasim Industries, which straddles textiles & textile fibres, real estate, building materials, cement and paints, has reported a standalone net loss of Rs 52.12 crore in the June quarter despite a 10.5% growth in revenue. It reported a net profit of Rs 355.27 crore in the same quarter last fiscal and net loss of Rs 440.93 crore in the March 2024 quarter.
Consolidated revenue from operations rose 10.5%to Rs 6,893.87 crore year-on-year, the city-based company said in a statement. Consolidated net declined to Rs 1,207.93 crore as against Rs 1,576.47 crore.
The company said its standalone operating revenue plunged 51.7 % to Rs 325.1 crore from Rs 673.3 crore while operating margin more than halved to 4.7% from 10.8%. Consolidated operating income also declined 4% to R4,760 crore, driven by investments in the paints business, higher depreciation and interest charges on account of new growth businesses, the company said.
Grasim’s cement business added new capacity of 8.7 million tonne, taking total grey cement capacity, including domestic and overseas to 154.9 million tonne per annum. Its newly launched paints brand, Birla Opus’ market presence reached to over 3,300 towns. Capital expenditure for the quarter stood at Rs 983 crore.
The budgeted standalone capex for FY25 is Rs 4,553 crore, of which around Rs 3,000 crore is towards new growth businesses, Grasim said. The cellulosic staple fibre business saw its fourth consecutive quarter of growth due to an improving domestic demand and global price trends. This business achieved its highest ever quarterly sales volume of 212 kilo tonne, which rose 14 %. The cellulosic fashion yarn business saw a marginal volume growth of 2% due to subdued demand in the downstream value chain and due to cheaper imports from Chinese producers.
This segment saw revenue growth of 6% at Rs 3,787 crore. The chemicals business revenue fell 4%to Rs 2,066 crore. Speciality chemicals (epoxy polymers and curing agents) revenue mix improved to 30%.