(Reuters) -India’s Grasim Industries reported a rise in second-quarter profit on Wednesday, on the back of higher demand for its chemicals products.
The company, part of the Aditya Birla Group, posted a standalone profit of 8.05 billion rupees ($91.59 million) for the July-September period, up from 7.21 billion rupees a year ago.
Its revenue rose 23% year-on-year to 96.10 billion rupees. Revenue from Grasim’s chemicals business, which makes up about a quarter of the company’s total, rose to 23.99 billion rupees, about 17% higher from a year earlier.
Standalone numbers for the textiles-to-paints firm exclude earnings of its units UltraTech Cement and Aditya Birla Capital.
Grasim’s margins have come under pressure from its heavy investments into “Birla Opus” – its paints brand – since entering the industry last year as well as intensifying competition.
Its total expenses surged 26.5% year-on-year to 99.49 billion rupees, pushing Grasim’s margins on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization to 4.06% from 4.52% a year earlier.
Additionally, Rakshit Hargave, who led the company’s paints foray, would resign as CEO of the paints business and leave the company on December 5, Grasim said.
While Grasim looks for Hargave’s successor, insider Himanshu Kapania will oversee the business in the interim, the company added.
($1 = 87.8950 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Komal Salecha and Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
