Grasim Q3 PAT up 44% to Rs 2,516 cr on strong show by Ultretech, AB Capital

Revenue rises 17% to Rs 28,638 cr; cheaper imports from Indonesia create pressure on domestic prices

Aditya Birla group's Grasim Industries today announced a 17 percent rise in its consolidated revenue for the December quarter at Rs 28,638 crore and profit after tax of Rs 2,516 crore, up 44 percent  -- driven mainly by strong performance of its subsidiaries – UltraTech Cement and Aditya Birla Capital.

The net profit for the quarter includes a fair value gain of Rs 1,492 crore recognised by Aditya Birla Capital, a subsidiary, post the acquisition of 9.99 per cent stake by Abu Dhabi Investmentl Authority’s entities in Aditya Birla Health Insurance. Excluding the  gain, the company’s net profit stood at Rs 1,024 crore, a 41.35 per cent fall from the year-ago period.

In a statement, the company said the global demand slowdown and resilient demand conditions in India led to increased exports from Indonesia to India at lower prices of competing products. Further, zero import duty in India on these imports created pressure on domestic prices.

The company said raw material prices continued to remain at elevated levels and the revenue for the viscose business declined by 5 per cent was offset by good performance of the Viscose Filament Yarn (VFY) business.

The revenue for the chemicals business was up 10 percent at Rs 2,582 crore and EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) was Rs 488 crore – down 8 per cent as the speciality chemicals segment saw normalisation of the realisations.

On its investments, the company said it spent  Rs 1,817 crore – 18 percent  of the total planned outlay on its paints business. The total capex for all other businesses was Rs 1,370 crore in the nine months of the current fiscal.  

The company said the work on 22.6 mtpa (million tonnes per annum) of capacity expansion of its cement subsidiary, Ultratech announced during the first quarter of FY 23 has already commenced. Upon completion of all planned expansions. UltraTech’s capacity would grow to 159.25 mtpa – reinforcing its position as the third largest cement company in the world, outside of China and the largest in India.