Balrampur Chini Q4 PAT rises 13% YoY to Rs 229 crore

Revenue from operations grew 4.48% to Rs 1,503.68 crore, from Rs 1,439.22 crore in Q4 FY24. Profit before tax rose 7.72% YoY to Rs 311.70 crore, while EBITDA increased 5.95% to Rs 365.24 crore.

Revenue from the sugar segment stood at Rs 270.96 crore, up 16.26% YoY. However, revenue from the distillery business declined 10.73% to Rs 86.80 crore during the quarter.

On a full-year basis, the company posted an 18.25% drop in net profit to Rs 436.92 crore for FY25. Revenue declined 3.19% to Rs 5,415.38 crore.

Vivek Saraogi, chairman and managing director of Balrampur Chini Mills, said, 'The sugar segment delivered a strong performance in the quarter under review, driven by improved margins. In the distillery segment, results were adversely impacted due to the government's decision not to increase the ethanol prices for juice and B-heavy ethanol.

Sugarcane crushing in the quarter was 1.4% lower than in the same period last year. Gross sugar recovery before diversion remained lower by approximately 40 basis points due to unfavorable weather conditions. It is worth noting that our decline in sugar recovery was one of the lowest among the factories in the Eastern UP.

The export quota of 1 million tons for the current season has bolstered the domestic sugar prices up to a level of Rs 41/kg, which is also the average cost of production of sugar in the country. For the 2024-25 ethanol year, while the government has allowed diversion of sugarcane juice and BH molasses for ethanol production but gave no price increase, which is a deviation from the government's previous practice of linking ethanol price hikes to FRP/sugar prices has made diversion of sugar for ethanol unremunerative. In the long term, this will pose a challenge to the government's plan to go up to E30 by 2030.

The progress of our 80,000-ton capacity PLA project remains on track with a capital cost of Rs 2,850 crore (gross) or Rs 1,750 crore (net of capital subsidy announced by the U.P. State Government). The Uttar Pradesh government's pioneering bioplastics policy strengthens the viability of our PLA project by providing an attractive incentive framework.

Over the years, our integrated operations have successfully kept pace with industry headwinds and adapted to the evolving dynamics of the industry. The upcoming PLA bioplastic project fits seamlessly into our core philosophy of getting the most value out of every stick of cane. This transformative project strengthens our ties to agriculture, advances our sustainability goals, and is a natural evolution of our business model. We believe it is well positioned to add significant value while promoting environmentally friendly initiatives for the future.'

Meanwhile, the board has recommended a dividend of Rs 3 per equity share of face value Rs 1 each for the financial year 2024-2025.

Balrampur Chini Mills is one of the largest integrated sugar companies in India. The allied businesses of the company comprise distillery operations and cogeneration of power.

Shares of Balrampur Chini Mills fell 1.42% to Rs 553.80 on the BSE.

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