Birla Corporation on Tuesday reported a 94 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit to Rs 83.86 crore during the quarter ended June 30, 2018 as compared to Rs 43.21 crore in the year-ago period.
The MP Birla Group's flagship company also said that its revenue from operations (net of taxes) was at Rs 1,655.75 crore, up 14 per cent from Rs 1,458.79 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
"There was improvement in realisations during the quarter under review in all the regions except North, which was partly off-set by sharp increase in input costs, especially fuel," it said in a statement.
While the freight cost went up on account of higher diesel prices, power and fuel costs escalated owing to all-time high pet coke prices and high levels of coal prices, the cement maker said.
It also said that non-availability of railway rakes affected dispatch of cement and clinker.
As part of the overall strategy of growth and increase in footprint across the existing as well as other regions, the Board of Directors of its wholly-owned subsidiary RCCPL Pvt Ltd has approved setting up of a 3.9-million-ton green-field integrated cement plant at Yavatmal in Maharashtra at an estimated cost of Rs 2,450 crore, it said.
This will increase the capacity of its subsidiary from 5.58 million ton to 9.48 million ton. The project will be financed through a mix of debt and internal accruals. It is expected to be commissioned in the financial year 2021-22.
--IANS
bdc/nir
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)