MUMBAI: AV Birla group flagship Grasim Industries has said its consolidated net profit plunged 66 percent on-year to a low of Rs 390 crore in the September quarter from Rs 1,164 crore a year ago, despite revenue rising over 11 percent.
The city-based diversified company said its revenue from operations rose 11 percent annually to Rs 33,563 crore in the reporting period, driven by the superior performance of the financial services, cellulosic staple fibre and specialty chemicals businesses.
The management attributed the plunge in the consolidated net profit to lower profitability in the cement business and the investments that have gone into the paints business under the Birla Opus label.
The management also said the results are in line with their plan to build a strong consumer-facing business.
Stable domestic demand helped the cellulosic staple fibre (CSF) business achieve its highest ever quarterly sales volume at 219 kilo tonne, up 4 percent compared to the year-ago period.
The chemicals segment saw a 16 percent rise to Rs 273 crore, driven by higher profitability in chlorine derivatives and specialty chemicals.
The building materials business that includes cement, paints, B2B ecommerce, booked a revenue of Rs 16,683 crore, up 3 percent, driven by the paints and B2B e-commerce businesses.
Of the paints business, the company said production is steadily ramping up at its three plants in Ludhiana, Panipat and Cheyyar, which were commissioned in Q1 of this financial year. Trial production has started at Chamarajanagar and Mahad plants, it added.
Product availability has increased to 129 with 900+ SKUs already placed in the distribution channel, while the product reach rose to over 4,300 towns.
B2B ecommerce for the building materials business expanded its product offerings across 35 product categories.
The company’s capex in the first half stood at Rs 1,884 crore.