Birla Corporation Ltd on Saturday reported a decline of 56.24 per cent in its consolidated net profit at Rs 61.92 crore for the quarter ended June on account of higher power, fuel and freight costs. It had posted a net profit of Rs 141.51 crore in the April-June period a year ago, Birla Corporation said in a BSE filing.
However, its revenue from operation rose 26 per cent to Rs 2,203.76 crore during the quarter under review, as against Rs 1,749.11 crore in Q1 FY22.
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 Kolkata-headquartered 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,” it added.
Birla Corporation’s total expenses were at Rs 2,129.27 crore, up 35.81 per cent from Rs 1,567.83 crore in the year-ago quarter.
Its revenue from cement was at Rs 2,100.29 crore and Rs 103.19 crore from the jute segment. Sales volume in the April-June quarter was up 17.31 per cent to 3.93 million tonnes and capacity utilisation stood at 88 per cent.
The company is primarily engaged in the manufacturing of cement. It also has a significant presence in the jute goods industry.