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The M P Birla Group's flagship company Birla Corporation Ltd. said on Saturday that rising power, fuel, and freight expenses had caused a fall in its consolidated net profit of 56.24 per cent, to Rs. 61.92 crore, for the quarter ended in June. In Q1FY22, the firm reported a net profit of Rs. 141.51 crore.
However, its operating revenue increased 26% to ₹2,203.76 crore during Q1FY23 as compared to ₹1,749.11 crore in Q1FY22. A gain of 26.14 per cent YoY brought the company's total income to ₹2,218.06 Cr in Q1FY23 from ₹1 758.41 Cr in Q1FY22.
Birla Corporation registered an "increase in revenue even amid tepid cement demand as the Company managed to ramp up capacity utilization (on a like-for-like basis) to 101 per cent", the firm said in an earnings statement.
"Profitability, however, was dented by escalating power, fuel and freight costs. Costs of optimising Birla Corporation subsidiary RCCPL Pvt Ltd's newly commissioned Mukutban plant in eastern Maharashtra also had a major impact on overall profitability, broadly in line with the management's internal projections," the company further added.
Total expenses for Birla Corporation were ₹2,129.27 crore, up 35.61% from ₹1,567.83 crore in the same period last year. Profit before tax (PBT) for the firm fell by 59.52 per cent year over year to ₹77.14 Cr in Q1FY23 from ₹190.58 Cr in Q1FY22. It made ₹2,100.29 crore from cement and ₹103.19 crore from the jute sector. Sales volume increased 17.31% to 3.93 million tonnes, and capacity utilisation was 88% in Q1FY23.
The shares of Birla Corporation Ltd. ended trading on the NSE on Friday at Rs. 995.65, up 1.91 per cent from the previous close of Rs. 976.95. In the last 1 year, the stock has fallen 27.38% and on a YTD basis, the stock has fallen by 30.27% so far in 2022. The company's primary area of business is the production of cement. The company's installed capacity for cement is 19.5 million tonnes, for jute products it has 52,631 metric tonnes, and for iron and steel casting it has 3,750 metric tonnes.
(With inputs from PTI)
