Grasim Q3 net vaults 95% to Rs650 cr; sales up 13% at Rs8,924 crore

Aditya Birla Group firm Grasim Industries has reported a 95 per cent jump in its net profit for the October-December quarter of the current fiscal at Rs650 crore, against Rs334 crore recorded in the comparable quarter of the previous year.

Net sales for the fiscal third quarter were up 13 per cent at Rs8,924 crore from Rs7,887 crore in the previous year quarter.

Grasim said the increase in profit was largely driven by better performance by its subsidiary UltraTech Cement and higher volume in viscose staple fibre and chemical business.

The company also completed merger of its subsidiary Adiya Birla Chemicals during the quarter.

VSF production was up 24 per cent at 1.24 lakh tonnes as recently commissioned Vilayat plant in Gujarat ramped up to its capacity. Realisation also improved eight per cent due to uptrend in global prices. EBITDA was up 126 per cent to Rs 308 crore.

Revenue from chemical doubled to Rs871 crore (Rs442 crore) on the back higher exports and better production.

Caustic soda volume was up by 87 per cent while that of epoxy increased 48 per cent.

EBITDA in this business rose to Rs177 crore from Rs67 crore, aided by lower energy costs.

Of the consolidated net revenue of Rs9,044 crore, the cement business accounted for Rs6,188 crore (Rs5,944 crore) with 18 per cent increase in EBITDA at Rs1,245 crore (Rs1,058 crore).

On a standalone basis, the net profit nearly trebled to Rs260 crore (Rs94 crore) while net sales increased 50 per cent to Rs2,312 crore (Rs1,544 crore).

Going ahead, the company expects VSF prices to soften globally due to lower demand.

Grasim plans to focus on expanding its domestic market through new product development and improve customers connect through Brand Liva leading to growth in demand for VSF based products in the textile value chain.

Caustic demand in India is expected to grow with increase in demand from the end user industry. Being the largest player in the industry, the company will gain from the rise in demand, it said.

Shares of the company were up over one per cent at Rs3,389 on Friday.