Revenue from operations, meanwhile, rose 11% YoY to Rs 33,563 crore in the reporting period.
EBITDA for the quarter dropped 10% YoY to Rs 4042 crore in the reporting quarter.
The operating profit declined as a result of lower profitability in the Cement business and initial investments in the Paints business under brand ‘Birla Opus’.
“The results are in line with our plan to build a strong consumer-facing business. Further, higher interest and depreciation charges on account of investments in the Building Materials and Renewables businesses has led to lower PAT,” Grasim said in a filing.
The CSF business achieved its highest ever quarterly sales volume at 219 KT up 4% YoY led by stable domestic demand. EBITDA Margins improved on the back of higher sales volume and improving trend in global prices. Volume growth in CFY business was driven by festive demand, however realisation remains under pressure due to Chinese producers’ aggressive pricing for the Indian markets. Cellulosic Fibres segment reported revenue of Rs 4,125 crore and EBITDA of Rs 494 crore, marking a YoY increase of 6% each.The Chemicals business revenue rose 3% YoY to Rs 2,054 crore.. Caustic soda sales volume was down by 4% YoY due to lower production on account of maintenance shutdown of the captive power plant at Vilayat.
EBITDA for the Chemicals segment increased 16% YoY to Rs 273 crore, driven by higher profitability in Chlorine Derivatives and Specialty Chemicals businesses.
Building Materials segment reported revenues of Rs 16,683 crore, showing a growth 3% YoY led by Paints and B2B E-Commerce businesses. EBITDA was down 28% YoY to Rs 1,886 crore for the quarter, mainly due to lower realisations in cement business and initial investments in building a consumer facing brand ‘Birla Opus’ in the Indian decorative paints market.
Consolidated sales volumes of the Cement business (UltraTech) were up by 4% YoY to 27.84 MT and ready-mix concrete sales volumes grew by 19% YoY to 3.01 Mn. UltraTech Building Solutions (UBS) outlets increased to 4,236, contributing 19.4% of total sales.
On Thursday, Grasim shares closed 1.25% higher at Rs 2,534 on NSE.
