Driven by a 53.24 per cent hike in finance costs and also higher expenses, BK Birla Group company Century Textiles and Industries Ltd slipped in to a loss in the three months to June 30, 2105. Higher finance costs at Rs 147.51 crore, up 53.24 per cent year on year led to Century Textiles reporting a loss of Rs 29.01 crore in the reporting quarter as against net profit of Rs 66.49 crore in prior fiscal first quarter. Consequently, for the quarter, the company reported a diluted loss per share of Rs 2.72 compared to diluted earnings per share of Rs 7.04 crore. Total income from operations in the quarter under preview at Century Textiles rose 7.60 per cent over the same quarter of previous fiscal to Rs 2033.89 crore. Of this, textile segment sales grew slower at 3.58 per cent from the first quarter of fiscal 2015 to amount to Rs 445.32 crore in the first quarter of fiscal 2016. Profit after depreciation but before finance costs and exceptional items at the textile division, however grew higher at Rs 36.96 crore, up 13.58 per cent. Overall expenses also rose 11 per cent year over year to Rs 1,932.56 crore in the first quarter of fiscal 2016 led by higher stock-in-trade; power, fuel and water; freight, octroi and depreciation and amortisation expenses. Purchase of stock-in-trade surged a massive 525 per cent to reach Rs 10.13 crore, while employee benefit expenses climbed 17 per cent to Rs 161.64 crore, both up from the first quarter of last fiscal. In the first quarter of fiscal 2016, depreciation and amortisation expenses expanded to Rs 70.16 crore, a growth of 19.62 per cent and power, fuel and water expenses mounted 20.43 per cent to Rs 439.74 crore. The highest increase in expenses came from freight, forwarding, octroi, etc, which drove up to Rs 338.90 crore, up a steep 30 per cent year on year. Profit from operations before other income, finance costs and exceptional items dropped to Rs 101.33 crore from Rs 149.19 crore, down 32 per cent. For the reporting period, other income at the company which manufactures textiles, cement, pulp and paper rose to Rs 5.17 crore from Rs 4.56 crore. Profit from ordinary activities before finance costs and exceptional items also declined 30.73 per cent over the corresponding quarter of earlier fiscal to Rs 106.50 crore. Century Textiles booked a pretax loss of Rs 41.01 crore in the first quarter of current fiscal compared to a profit of Rs 57.49 crore in the same quarter of fiscal 2015. However a deferred tax credit of Rs 12.00 crore in the quarter under review as against Rs 9.00 crore in the first quarter of last fiscal helped reduce net loss at Century Textiles.
