The Hindu Business Line : Aditya Birla Nuvo net little changed at Rs 55 cr

Aditya Birla Nuvo, which has interests ranging from textiles and telecom to fertilisers and IT, has reported a net profit of Rs 55.34 crore for the third quarter of the current fiscal, against Rs 55 crore for the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal, representing a marginal 0.6 per cent growth.

During the quarter, the net income grew by about 70 per cent to touch Rs 2,288.78 crore (Rs 1,350.23 crore).

Funds outflow

A company spokesperson said large outflow of funds for major investments had impacted the profitability of the quarter. The company invested Rs 1,373 crore in Idea Cellular and another Rs 150 crore in BPO business in the current fiscal. To fund these the company had to borrow, which impacted the net profit.

The spokesperson said the funds raised through rights issue would be used to neutralise the impact going forward. The company, along with its wholly owned subsidiary, has purchased shares from the joint venture partner, NGK Insulators Ltd in the joint venture, Birla NGK Insulators Pvt Ltd.

The company's telecom business has reflected a significant growth in revenues, but it was neutralised by the ramping up costs of its life insurance business and restructuring in its BPO-Minacs business.

In the telecom business, the company reported that Idea Cellular's subscriber base had increased to 12.4 million for the quarter, with revenue from this stream reflecting a jump of 49.9 per cent at Rs 1,148.20 crore. It has received licences for Mumbai and Bihar and has recently launched commercial operations in Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Its textile division contributed revenue of Rs 155.93 crore (Rs 139.81 crore) in the quarter.