Grasim Industries, part of the Aditya Birla group, has posted a decline of 36.26 per cent in its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended December, 2008 at Rs 459.55 crore compared with Rs 720.99 crore in the corresponding previous year. The company's consolidated net sales grew to Rs 4,587.86 crore during the period from Rs 4,317.18 crore last year, up 6.27 per cent.
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The company which has its exposure to businesses like cement, viscose staple fibre (VSF), sponge iron and caustic soda; witnessed negative growth in sales volumes of VSF and sponge iron of 22 per cent and 15 per cent respectively during the December quarter.
Depressed consumer demand for textile globally adversely affected the VSF segment as a result of which company scaled down it production. The company said in a statement that demand for VSF is expected to remain muted and margins will be under pressure.
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In cement segment, which is the main business of the company, production was higher by 9 per cent. Realisations too improved but the impact was more than offset by the soaring input costs, thereby affecting margins adversely.
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On the standalone basis, the company's net profit during the quarter dipped to Rs 329.56 crore from Rs 553.79 crore, down 60.49 per cent. The net sales marginally grew to Rs 2653.57 crore from Rs 2,593.10 crore, up 2.33 per cent.
In its outlook, the company said that with increase in capacities, improved cost optimisation and higher productivity, the prospects appear positive.
However, the consolidated total income of the diversified firm rose to Rs 4,702.69 crore in the latest quarter from Rs 4,426.64 crore a year ago.
On a standalone basis, Grasim Industries registered a net profit of Rs 329.56 crore in December quarter, a 40.49 per cent decline over Rs 553.79 crore in the same quarter a year ago.