Grasim industries logs in net loss of Rs 52 crore

MUMBAI: Aditya Birla group flagship company Grasim Industries, which straddles textiles & textile fibres, real estate, building materials, cement and paints, has reported a standalone net loss of Rs 5212 crore in the June quarter despite a 10.5 per cent growth in its revenue. It reported a net profit of Rs 355.27 crore in the same quarter last fiscal year and a net loss of Rs 440.93 crore in the March quarter of this year.

Whereas, consolidated revenue from operations rose 10.5 per cent to Rs 6,893.87 crore in an year, the Mumbai-based company said in a statement. However, Consolidated net declined to Rs 1,207.93 crore as against Rs 1,576.47 crore.

The company said its standalone operating revenue plunged 51.7 per cent to Rs 325.1 crore from Rs 673.3 crore, while its operating margin compressed more than halved to 4.7 per cent from 10.8 per cent, but the company did not reveal the reason for such a bad set of numbers.

Consolidated operating income also declined 4 percent to Rs 4,760 crore, driven by investments in the paints business, higher depreciation and interest charges on account of new growth businesses, the company said.

Grasim’s cement business added new capacity of 8.7 million tonne, taking total grey cement capacity, including domestic and overseas to 154.9 million tonne per annum. Its newly launched paint brand, Birla Opus’ market presence reached to over 3,300 towns.