E.I.D. Parry (India) Ltd., a Murugappa Group firm, has reported a 5.7% rise in its standalone net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 2019 to ₹129 crore from ₹122 crore registered during the year-earlier period.
Revenue from operations rose to ₹569 crore from ₹432 crore. The board of directors approved the issue of secured/unsecured non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of ₹300 crore on a private placement basis.
Depressed prices
“The performance of the firm for the year was largely impacted due to depressed sugar selling price. This was on account of demand-supply mismatch in sugar market caused by huge sugar production in the country for sugar season 2018-19,” said S. Suresh, MD, E.I.D. Parry (India). The rise in the minimum selling price by ₹2 per kg helped the firm realise marginal profit in the fourth quarter, he added.
Tamil Nadu continues to reel under drought conditions for the last two years. Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh had normal monsoon during the year and accordingly, the cane availability for the next sugar season is expected to be in line with the current season, he said.
While sugar and distillery units performed well, nutraceuticals division had a muted performance due to pricing pressure and intense competition in overseas market.
