Tata Chemicals net up over 26% at Rs 450 cr

Tata Chemicals Friday reported a 26.46 percent growth in consolidated net income at Rs 450 crore for the three months to March, following strong performance across all segments.

Revenue from operations in the quarter grew 8 percent to Rs 2,759.30 crore from Rs 2,555.08 crore a year ago.

However, for the full fiscal 2019, net profit declined 10.59 percent to Rs 1,394.83 crore compared to Rs 1,560 crore in FY18, while revenue grew 9.2 percent to Rs 11,296.33 crore from Rs 10,345.36 crore in FY18.

Consolidated net debt as of March stood at Rs 1,959 crore, the company said.

"Despite challenges on the energy cost and overall fixed cost, we could close the year with a good performance driven by operational efficiencies which continue to improve," managing director R Mukundan told reporters.

On the cost side, he said there has been an increase in variable cost owing to higher fuel costs.

He further said performance was on expected lines across all geographies except a few obstacles in Britain.

The domestic chemicals business grew robustly, while the US delivered better and Kenya began to show a positive momentum, Mukundan said.

He said, the Mithapur plant is performing well and the capacity expansion is underway as planned.

On expansion, he said, the Nellore unit is on track and is at the final stage of commissioning and the Cuddalore plant is expected to start commercial production of specialty silica in the first half of FY20.

On the consumer business, he said, Tata Salt continues its leadership in the national branded salt segment. "We pilot launched a few new products under the Tata Sampann umbrella which are today available at modern stores and on select online platforms.

"We have also made a foray into home-care segment with the pilot launch of Tata DX, a detergent brand which was tested in Bengal with a positive consumer response," he said.

Going forward, the company is pursuing a strong transformation strategy that focuses on leveraging science as a key differentiator to strengthen their basic chemistry business, and aggressively grow the specialty products business apart from gaining a strong foothold in consumer business.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)