Grasim Industries, an Adiya Birla group company, reported 95 per cent increase in December quarter net profit at Rs 650 crore against Rs 334 crore recorded in the same period last year, largely driven by better performance by its subsidiary UltraTech Cement and higher volume in viscose staple fibre and chemical business. The company completed merger of its subsidiary Adiya Birla Chemicals during the quarter.
Net sales were up 13 per cent at Rs 8,924 crore (Rs 7,887 crore).
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 Rs 871 crore (Rs 442 crore) on 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 Rs 177 crore from Rs 67 crore aided by lower energy costs.
Of the consolidated net revenue of Rs 9,044 crore, the cement business accounted for Rs 6,188 crore (Rs 5,944 crore) with 18 per cent increase in Ebitda at Rs 1,245 crore (Rs 1,058 crore).
On a standalone basis, the net profit nearly trebled to Rs 260 crore (Rs 94 crore) while net sales increased 50 per cent to Rs 2,312 crore (Rs 1,544 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 Rs 3,389 on Friday.