Aditya Birla Nuvo, a diversified company of the Aditya Birla group, has posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 104.6 crore for the quarter ended September compared with a net profit of Rs 47.78 crore for the corresponding previous quarter. The company’s net sales during the period rose to Rs 3565.98 crore against Rs 2769.77 crore last year, up 28.75 per cent.
The net losses in telecom, insurance and BPO businesses took a dent on the consolidated profitability of the company. Insurance business registered a loss of Rs 200 crore during the quarter against a loss of Rs 84 crore last year. Similarly, the company incurred losses of Rs 144 crore and Rs 25.7 crore in telecom and BPO sectors respectively.
“The start up losses and brand building costs for Mumbai (telecom) circle impacted the bottomline whereas forex rates had its impact on the BPO business,” said the company in a statement. Lower capacity utilisation in the contract manufacturing business (garments) due to weak order flow has impacted its profitability, the company added.
The revenues in telecom business during the quarter increased by 47 per cent, 15 per cent each in insurance and BPO while in garments, the revenue growth rate stood at 20 per cent during the quarter.
On the standalone basis, the company’s net profit was up 19.07 per cent at Rs 65.31 crore for the quarter against Rs 54.85 crore in the previous corresponding quarter. The net sales grew to Rs 1310.65 crore in the quarter from Rs 898.66 crore last year, up 45.84 per cent.
The company said, “The investments pumped, more specifically into the life insurance, BPO and garments businesses, which have created a stretch on profitability in the short term as per plan.” Most of our businesses are progressing well to leverage growth opportunities, it added.
Reacting to the poor quarterly performance, the company’s share price plunged 20.06 per cent to Rs 471.35 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
