High power, fuel and freight costs have dented the net profit of cement major Birla Corporation in the first quarter of FY2023. The company on Saturday reported a 56.25 per cent fall in net profit at Rs 61.92 crore compared with Rs 141.51 crore in the corresponding previous period.

The cost of optimising subsidiary RCCPL’s newly commissioned plant at Mukutban in eastern Maharashtra had an impact on overall profitability. The EBITDA per tonne (excluding start-up costs at Mukutban) was Rs 751 against Rs 1,001 per tonne a year ago.

Revenue rose 26.14 per cent to Rs 2,218.06 crore from Rs 1,758.41 crore a year ago.

“Challenges from rising fuel costs were aggravated by disruptions in supply of linkage and e-auction coal from Coal India, which forced us to procure coal at higher prices. As large quantities of linkage and e-auction coal were used in the comparable previous period, the relative increase in coal cost in Q1 FY 22-23 was higher,” the company said.

Marico net rises 3%

FMCG firm Marico on Saturday reported a 3.28 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 377 crore for the first quarter ended June 30. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 365 crore a year ago.

Revenue from operations rose marginally by 1.3 per cent to Rs 2,558 crore from Rs 2,525 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

However, Marico’s revenue from the domestic market dropped 3.56 per cent to Rs 1,921 crore as against Rs 1,992 crore earlier.

“In India, the FMCG sector witnessed volume decline in Q1FY23 for the third quarter in a row and value growth continued to be price-led. Domestic volumes declined by 6 per cent YoY,” Marico said.

PTI