MP Birla Group flagship company Birla Corporation Limited today reported a 53 per cent drop in net profit at Rs 66 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2020 amid severe disruptions in its key markets and manufacturing centres due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The company’s net profit during the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal stood at Rs 141 crore, Birla Corporation said in a Press statement issued here. Revenue for the June quarter (including other income) at Rs 1,241 crore declined by 34.7 percent year-on-year as sales by volume dropped by 33.9 percent to 2.4 million tons (mt), the company said.
The operations of the company’s plants stood suspended for nearly the entire month of April. Sales during this period were also negligible.
Though things started to move in May, it was only in the latter half of the month that operations normalised, Birla Corp said. However, local lockdowns and restrictions continued to hobble operations, it added.
Meanwhile, the company’s jute division suffered a loss of Rs 3.42 crore in the June quarter, as against an EBITDA of Rs 4.83 crore in the corresponding period of last year, because of a substantial loss in production due to the lockdown and disruption due to the Amphan cyclone which caused extensive damage.
The company’s jute mill at Birlapur in West Bengal could operate for only 16 day.