Kajaria Ceramics has reported a growth of 60.87 per cent in its net consolidated profit during the quarter ended September 30, 2023. Its profit after tax stood at Rs 110.82 crore in Q2 FY24 as against Rs 68.89 crore it registered in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal, the company said in a BSE filing.
The company’s total consolidated income stood at Rs 1,129.89 crore in Q2 FY24, a growth of 4.10 per cent from Rs 1,085.39 crore it recorded in the similar quarter last year.
The board of directors approved an interim dividend of Rs. 6 per share of Re. 1 each for the financial year 2023-24.
The board also approved increasing the limits of investments by the company in Kajaria Plywood (KPPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary, from Rs. 70 crore to Rs. 80 crore, in one or more tranches, through subscription of equity shares of KPPL and/or granting of unsecured loan to KPPL.
“Sustained weakness in domestic demand for tiles has impacted our Q2FY24 volumes which grew by 6% year-on-year to 26.47 MSM. While H1FY24 witnessed weaker than anticipated demand, gradual pick-up in volumes since September and expected improvement in demand environment emanating from rub-off of strong growth in real estate sector is expected to drive better volume growth in H2 FY24,” said Ashok Kajaria,” chairman of the company.
During the quarter, the company has completed modernisation/expansion at Sikandrabad plant (Uttar Pradesh) with an investment of Rs 103.68 crore, resulting an increase in GVT capacity from 8.40 MSM to 11.40 MSM. and at Gailpur plant (Rajasthan) with an investment of Rs 57.23 crore, resulting an increase in ceramic capacity from 29.40 MSM to 31.32 MSM.
As on September 30, 2023, the company’s net worth stood at Rs 2,503.01 crore and debt-equity ratio was -0.15.