Aditya Birla Group firm Grasim Industries Ltd on Monday reported a 13.3 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 2,616.64 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 2,309.41 crore during the January-March quarter of the previous financial year, Grasim Industries said in a regulatory filing.
Its revenue from operations during January-March 2021 jumped 26.1 per cent to Rs 24,398.92 crore, compared with Rs 19,349.54 crore in the year-ago period.
There was a "strong operational and financial performance by all the businesses in Q4FY21", said Grasim Industries in a post-earning statement.
However, it also added, "While the signs of economic recovery picking up momentum was visible during the fourth quarter of 2020-21, the impact of the second wave of COVID-19 on the economic activity needs to be assessed." Grasim Industries' total expenses in the March 2021 quarter stood at Rs 20,887.16 crore, up 15.7 per cent as against Rs 18,053.40 crore a year ago.
Revenue of Grasim Industries from the viscose-pulp, viscose staple fibre and filament yarn segment jumped 22.91 per cent to Rs 2,583.40 crore in the fourth quarter of 2020-21 as against Rs 2,101.82 crore a year ago.
"The net revenue for the viscose segment stood at Rs 2,583 crore and Ebitda at Rs 625 crore, driven by higher sales volumes, better product mix, significant cost savings and improved realisation.
"During the quarter, the pulp prices and input costs have, however, started firming up in line with commodities," it said. Ebitda stands for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
Revenue from cement business UltraTech Cement jumped 32.72 per cent to Rs 14,405.61 crore, compared with Rs 10,854.48 crore a year ago.
In the January-March 2021 quarter, the consolidated sales volume of India's leading cement maker UltraTech stood at 27.78 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).
While revenue from the chemicals segment was at Rs 1,472.28 crore, up 14.12 per cent as against Rs 1,290.12 crore in the first quarter of 2019-20.
"The domestic caustic soda business and the advanced material business reported a strong operational performance during the quarter.
"The caustic soda capacity utilisation improved to 94 per cent in Q4FY21 from 89 per cent in Q3FY21. International caustic soda prices improved sequentially led by temporary supply disruptions in the latter part of the quarter," it said.
Revenue from its financial services segment, Aditya Birla Capital Ltd (ABCL), rose 16.51 per cent to Rs 5,561.77 crore as against Rs 4,773.64 crore a year ago.
"ABCL, through its subsidiaries, continues to maintain its track record of consistency in performance through the market and macroeconomic cycles, with its diversified business model.
"The consolidated profit after tax (after minority interest) grew 22 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,127 crore in FY21," it said.
Grasim's revenue from other's segment in the March 2021 quarter stood at Rs 547.31 crore, an increase of 4.73 per cent as compared with Rs 522.56 crore a year ago.
For the full financial year 2020-21, Grasim Industries's net profit grew 5.24 per cent to Rs 6,986.70 crore. It was Rs 6,638.58 crore in the previous year.
Its revenue from operations was up 1.67 per cent to Rs 76,397.81 crore in 2020-21. It was Rs 75,140.71 crore in 2019-20.
The board of Grasim has recommended a dividend of Rs 5 per equity share and a special dividend of Rs 4 per equity share for the year ended March 31, 2021, taking the total dividend to Rs 9 per equity share.
"The total outflow on account of the dividend would be Rs 592 crore," the statement said.
Grasim, which had annoyed earlier this year in January to enter the paint business, said it is making brisk progress in line with the plans.
"The company is in the process of hiring senior professionals and specialists for the business. It is also actively engaged in shortlisting/acquiring land for plant locations and is progressing with the engineering planning for the project," it said.
Over the capital expenditure (capex) plans for FY22, Grasim said, "The capex plan for FY22 (excluding paints and fertiliser) is Rs 2,604 crore." This includes the viscose staple fibre (VSF) expansion project at Vilayat, Gujarat, and to invest towards increasing its advanced materials (Epoxy) business capacity by about 125 kilo-tonnes per annum through a brownfield expansion at the existing location of Vilayat, Gujarat.
On the COVID-19 situation, Grasim Industries said it continues to give utmost primacy to the safety and well-being of employees and local communities.
It has undertaken a series of steps as setting up COVID-19 treatment centres and mobilising oxygen cylinders and concentrators across locations.
Shares of Grasim Industries Ltd on Monday settled at Rs 1,371.10 on the BSE, down 0.08 per cent from the previous close.
