Coal news and updates

Birla Corp 3rd quarter net profit edges down

February 24: Birla Corporation Limited, the flagship company of the M P Birla Group, recently reported a slight drop in net profit for the third quarter (October-December) of 2014-15 to Rs 15 crore against Rs 15.99 crore reported in the same quarter of the previous fiscal, the company said in a statement.

Commenting on the results in the third quarter of 2014-15, Harsh V Lodha, Chairman, Birla Corp, said the cement industry has witnessed a challenging scenario with subdued realisation on one hand and higher input and logistic costs on the other.

“During the quarter under review, the demand for cement, particularly in the northern and central regions, was subdued. This affected the volume of sales,” the statement said.

During the quarter under review, the company’s cement despatches stood at 1.82 million tons (mt), slightly up from 1.80 mt despatched in the same quarter last year while cement production of Birla Corp rose 2.79% to 1.81 mt in the third quarter against a volume of 1.76 mt produced in the corresponding quarter last year.

“Consequent to reduction in the availability of linkage coal, the company had to procure coal from the open market as well as take recourse to imports. This has resulted in substantially higher cost of coal. Further, availability of railway rakes came down significantly, resulting in shortage of coal delivery affecting the generation of captive power as well as the working of the kilns and increasing costs substantially,” the statement said.

During the third quarter of 2014-15, the company’s income from operations increased 4.70% to Rs 743.18 crore compared to Rs 709.84 crore reported in the same period of the last financial year.

Following are the Q3 and nine months results, production and off-take of Birla Corporation Limited (consolidated) in 2014-15 and 2013-14 (in Rs crore):