Grasim Industries, a Aditya Birla Group company that has interests in cement, chemicals and fibres, reported nearly flat growth in net profit at the end of the March 2017 quarter.
Net profit (before exceptional items) stood at ₹775 crore, up 2.37 per cent from the ₹757-crore it reported in the March 2016 quarter. Consolidated revenue rose 5.4 per cent year-on-year to ₹11,140 crore.
Volumes in the chemical business fell six per cent year-on-year, while the viscose staple fibre business saw revenues rise 12 per cent over the same period to ₹1,945 crore. The cement subsidiary UltraTech Cement had earlier reported net profit falling 11 per cent during the quarter.
“We have a dominant market share in viscose staple fibre. We're expecting the market to double in India vis-a-vis other fibres. In cements, net profit at UltraTech may have fallen but we are still market leaders and we have performed better than competition," Dilip Gaur, MD, Grasim Industries, told
Profit for the full year for Grasim was ₹3,167 crore, up 26.8 per cent from ₹2,496 crore for FY-16. Capital expenditure for FY-17 had been ₹1,677 crore and is projected at ₹3,040 crore for FY-18, of which ₹2,190 crore will be allocated to UltraTech.
The merger between Grasim Industries and Aditya Birla Nuvo, which has been approved by the respective companies' minority shareholders, is expected to be complete by Q2FY-18.
The merger is part of a larger restructuring of the two Aditya Birla group companies and will result in Grasim Industries gaining exposure to the Idea Cellular's telecom business and the financial services business that is currently housed under Aditya Birla Nuvo.
The board of Grasim Industries has declared dividend of ₹5.50 per equity share. The company’s scrip fell 0.67 per cent to ₹1,121.3 on the BSE on Friday.