Birla Corporation has posted its highest ever cash profit and EBIDTA in a quarter amid a heightened tussle over the control of the company and the MP Birla group to which it belongs.
Harsh Vardhan Lodha chaired the meeting of the board which approved the results. The Birla family has vowed to file a contempt petition against Lodha and others before Calcutta High Court.
Lodha claimed that a division bench order had allowed him to continue as chairman (except on the strength of the shares of Priyamvada Devi Birla’s estate), a legal position strongly opposed by the Birlas.
While the Birlas argued that the estate holds sway over the controlling block of shares of BCL, Lodha claims the share to be only a fraction of the promoters’ block.
Lodha is expected to chair the board meetings of the other listed manufacturing companies of the group — Universal Cables, Vindhya Telelinks and Birla Cable — over the next few days.
A fresh legal challenge by the Birlas will be possible only after the HC resumes after the puja vacation.
Stellar performance
The steller performance by BCL — which also reported an 88.6 per cent year-on-year net profit jump at Rs 166.62 crore and a cash profit for the jute division — was highlighted by the Lodha camp on Thursday to blunt the Birla narrative that performance of the company has deteriorated during the reign of Lodha.
The compounded annual growth rate of revenue and net profit stood at 11.41 per cent and 16.9 per cent, respectively, between 2003-04 and 2019-20.
EBITDA for the September quarter at Rs 403.85 crore and cash profit at Rs 327.86 crore saw a growth of 21.7 per cent and 43.2 per cent, respectively. Revenues at
Rs 1,675.41 crore were up 1.7 per cent.
Emami profit
Post-tax profit of Emami has increased 19.7 per cent to Rs 114.52 crore during the September quarter compared with Rs 95.67 crore a year ago.
Revenue from operations increased 10.4 per cent to Rs 653.86 crore from Rs 592.12 crore a year ago
Spencer’s Retail
Spencer’s Retail on Thursday reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 45.05 crore for September quarter of 2020. The company had posted a net loss of Rs 39.56 crore in the July-September period a year ago.
Revenue from operations stood at Rs 616.65 crore against Rs 699.48 crore in the year-ago period.
EBIDTA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) margins of the company during the quarter increased to 32.1 per cent compared with the similar period last fiscal at Rs 185.58 crore.
It said that the company closed the second quarter with a sound performance defying the Covid challenge.
The growth momentum was sustained by the health and hygiene segment along with sequential recovery in the personal care brands. During the quarter, rural markets continued to perform better aided by government packages. All the channels posted convincing growth with e-retailing tripling it's revenues during the quarter. International business grew 11 per cent in terms of both profits and margins, the company said, adding that cost control measures and benign raw material prices helped in the betterment of the margins.
While that may still be 10 days away, the Birlas had been sending letters to the directors on the board of the listed companies and key management persons not to allow Lodha to participate in the meetings, and threatening to file contempt petition.
Lodha camp said such tactics were not new as repeated attempts have been made over the last 16 years to disrupt and obstruct the functioning of the companies. They cited three attempts by Birla side to thwart business expansion plans of BCL.
