Nachiket Kelkar
Moneycontrol.com
Diversified Aditya Birla Nuvo has planned a capital expenditure of Rs 650 crore in the current financial year, more than twice it spent last year.
Bulk of the capex will be used to import new technology in its rayon business and to set up a new caustic soda plant, CFO Sushil Agarwal said on Tuesday.
Also Read: Aditya Birla Nuvo profit falls 42%
"Rs 270 crore will go in the rayon business, where we are going to get spool technology from Germany. We are also contemplating raising caustic soda capacity, for which we will need Rs 150 crore and Rs 200 crore for de-bottlenecking and energy saving schemes in agri business," he said.
The new caustic soda plant will come up at Patalganga near Mumbai, where Aditya Birla Nuvo already has carbon black facilities. Agarwal said the company has sought government approval and the new plant should be ready by end of this financial year.
Meanwhile, Aditya Birla Nuvo's fourth quarter consolidated net profit declined to Rs 170 crore, down 42% from a year ago.
The rise in depreciation and interest costs primarily relating to 3G investments in the telecom business (Idea Cellular) constrained net profit, it said. In Jan-March it also had Rs 104 crore in provision towards entry tax liability largely related to previous years with respect to its carbon black plant in Renukoot.
Aditya Birla Nuvo's EBITDA was up 11% to Rs 862 crore and revenue rose 15% to Rs 5,994 crore in the quarter.
Its earnings in carbon black business and insulators were hurt due to lower-offtake and capacity utilization due to cheaper imports.
The company recently signed a deal with Kishore Biyani's Pantaloon Retail to acquire its Pantaloons fashion retail chain.
Aditya Birla Nuvo's arm Madura Fashion and Lifestyle has premium brand stores like Van Heusen. Buying Pantaloons will help it extend footprint into fast growing value fashion business and get access to women and kids wear, Agarwal said.
Aditya Birla Nuvo shares closed at Rs 807, down 2.60% on NSE on Tuesday.
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