Birla Corp posts 52% rise in net profit

India’s Birla Corp has posted a 52 per cent YoY surge in net profit to INR1.95bn (US$25.76m) in the quarter ending 31 March 2020, while total income was down 9.4 per cent to INR17.18bn. Capacity utilisation during the 4QFY19-20 declined to 93 per cent from 98 per cent, on the back of a 13 per cent YoY drop in sales volumes to 3.3Mt.

In the FY19-20 net profit advanced 98 per cent YoY to INR5.05bn.

Orient Cement
Birla Corp subsidiary, Orient Cement, recorded a 29 per cent YoY decline in net profit to INR440.6m in the final quarter of FY19-20, compared with INR619.8m in the 4QFY18-19. Revenue from operations also fell 12.8 per cent to INR6.54bn from INR7.5bn.

"The operations of the company were impacted in the month of March 2020 due to the temporary shutdown of all plants following the nationwide lockdown announced by the Government of India because of COVID-19 outbreak. The management is monitoring the situation closely and has started operating its plants in a phased manner from the last week of April," said the company.

However, in the full fiscal year, the company’s net profit climbed 82.1 per cent YoY to INR865.8m from INR475.5m.