Grasim Industries, part of the Aditya Birla group, reported that its net profit in the March quarter plunged 36 per cent to ₹2,356 crore, against the ₹3,656 crore logged in the same period last year, largely due to lower realisation and higher cost.

Revenue from operations was up 16 per cent at ₹33,462 crore (₹28,811 crore). Ebitda in the March quarter was up at ₹4,873 crore (₹4,647 crore). The company has declared a dividend of ₹10 per share.

On a standalone basis, the company’s net profit was down at ₹94 crore (₹1,068 crore) even as revenue increased to ₹6,645 crore (₹6,376 crore).

Globally, the Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF) industry witnessed a sharp recovery in March quarter following an exceptionally subdued environment in December quarter. The reopening of the Chinese markets has aided the overall pick-up of demand.

The increase in demand has reduced the average inventory levels to an average of 23 days, down from a peak of 27 days in Q3 FY23. VSF prices improved to $1.68/kg against $1.53/kg in December quarter due to market improvement. The company’s sales volume of VSF increased 25 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis to 192KT for Q4FY23.

Viscose business revenue was down marginally to ₹3,764 crore (Rs 3,766 crore). Ebitda was down at ₹144 crore (₹252 crore).

The global Caustic Soda market remain oversupplied with flat demand. Average quarterly spot prices for caustic were down 27 per cent to $518 a tonne ($719 a tonne).

Caustic soda sales volumes were up 5 per cent to 2.86 lakh tonne in Q4 FY23. Chlorine integration was down due to temporary shutdown of the Phosphoric Acid plant, which restarted operations in April.

Revenue for the chemicals business was up at ₹2,397 crore (₹2,487 crore) and Ebitda dipped to ₹368 crore (₹499 crore).

Commercial launch of paints business expected to start by end of this quarter with phased launches. The capex spent last fiscal was at ₹4,307 crore including ₹1,979 crore in the paints business as of March-end.

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