Aditya Birla Group firm Grasim Industries Ltd on Monday reported an around four-fold jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 2,447.97 crore for the first quarter ended June 2021.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 616.99 crore during the April-June quarter of the previous fiscal, Grasim Industries said in a regulatory filing.
Its revenue from operations was up 52.72 per cent at Rs 19,919.40 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 13,043.51 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
Grasim Industries' total expenses were at Rs 16,853.28 crore, up 36.67 per cent in Q1 FY2021-22 as against Rs 12,330.93 crore.
"The second wave of COVID-19 slowed down the pace of economic activity, which was fast recovering. However, with the accelerated pace of vaccination by the government and the receding impact of second wave, the economy is witnessing a strong rebound," said Grasim in a statement.
Grasim Industries' revenue from viscose-pulp, viscose staple fibre and filament yarn segment was up over three-folds to Rs 2,102.76 crore in Q1/FY2021-22 as against Rs 557.68 crore a year ago.
However, sequentially the segment has witnessed a degrowth of 17.9 per cent as it was at Rs 2,583.40 crore in the January-March quarter.
"India observed selective restrictions on the business activities during most of Q1FY22, which impacted the sale of textile products, leading to an accumulation of inventory in the value chain. Consequently, the VSF sale volume registered sequential degrowth in Q1FY22," it said.
Revenue from cement business UltraTech Cement was up 54.21 per cent to Rs 11,829.82 crore as against Rs 7,671.05 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.
"UltraTech witnessed YoY increase in the cost of production due to a rise in the energy, raw material and logistics cost during Q1FY22," it said.
In the April-June quarter, the consolidated sales volume of India's leading cement maker UltraTech was up 47 per cent to 21.53 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).
UltraTech's 19.5 MTPA capacity expansion programme through a mix of greenfield and brownfield expansion is on track and is expected to get completed by the end of FY23 taking total capacity to 136.25 MTPA, it added.
Its revenue from the chemicals segment was up over two-folds at Rs 1,436.48 crore as against Rs 701.57 crore of Q1/FY 2020-21.
"The second COVID wave had a marginal impact on the operational performance of the Chemical business," said Grasim Industries.
International caustic soda prices maintained the upsurge in Q1FY22 driven by supply outages due to maintenance shutdown and demand improvement.
"The rise in domestic caustic soda prices was subdued owing to weak demand from textile, organic chemicals and excess supply situation. The caustic soda capacity utilisation stood at 85 per cent in Q1FY22, higher than the industry average," it said.
Revenue from the financial services segment - Aditya Birla Capital Ltd (ABCL) was up 6.89 per cent to Rs 4,287.09 crore as against Rs 4,010.42 crore a year ago.
ABCL's consolidated profit after tax (after minority interest) grew 52 per cent year on year to Rs 302 crore in Q1FY22, the best quarterly profit, it added.
"ABCL's focus on building scale, growing its retail base and delivering consistent profitability has yielded results. The retailisation strategy has led to the active customer base growing to ~ 25 million, a 30 per cent YoY growth," it said.
Grasim's revenue from other's segment in Q1/FY 2021-22 was at Rs 449.22 crore, up over two-folds, as against Rs 160.14 crore of the corresponding quarter.
Over capex Plan, Grasim Industries said commissioning of VSF expansion of two lines at Vilayat, Gujarat is as per schedule. Line 1 is expected to be commissioned in Q2 and Line 2 in Q3 of the current financial year.
"... the total capex (to be spent) for FY22 stands at Rs 2,604 Cr. (Excluding the Paints and Fertiliser)," it added.
Grasim, which had annoyed earlier this year in January to enter into the paint business, said it is making brisk progress in line with the plans.
"Land acquisition for setting up plants at different states is in process, and simultaneously project engineering plans are also progressing," it said.
Over the Covid-19 situation, Grasim Industries said it continues to give utmost primacy to the safety and well-being of employees and local communities in the wake of the second wave of COVID-19.
It has initiated a vaccination program for employees and their dependents at various plant locations and corporate offices, which is progressing well, Grasim added.
Shares of Grasim Industries Ltd on Friday closed at Rs 1,497.60 on the BSE, up 0.35 per cent from the previous close.
