Aditya Birla Q4 net down 42%

Aditya Birla Nuvo on Tuesday posted a 42 per cent decline in consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2012 at Rs 170.27 crore, primarily due to a tax-related exceptional item of over Rs 103 crore.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2011, the company's net profit was Rs 293.56 crore, it said in a filing to the BSE.

"The company has made provision for entry tax (in Uttar Pradesh) till 31st March 2012 aggregating Rs 103.88 crore and same is considered as an exceptional item," it said.

The firm's consolidated net sales for the quarter under review increased 14.84 per cent to Rs 5,922 crore, against Rs 5,156.73 crore in the fourth quarter of last fiscal.

The multi-business conglomerate operates in areas like financial services, telecom, fashion and lifestyle, IT and ITES, agri products, yarn and textile manufacturing.

Aditya Birla Nuvo's consolidated net profit for 2011-12 increased 8.27 per cent to Rs 890.13 crore, compared to Rs 822.10 crore in the previous fiscal.

Its net sales grew around 20 per cent to Rs 21,592.48 crore, against Rs 17,999.46 crore in 2010-11.

During the quarter, the company's board of directors approved the proposed acquisition of a controlling stake in Future Group's Pantaloon format.

As a part of the deal, Pantaloon Retail India will issue debentures worth Rs 800 crore to a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Nuvo.

The transaction is expected to be completed within the next 8-10 months subject to due diligence and other approvals.

At a meeting held on Tuesday, the company's board has recommended dividend Rs 6 per equity share of Rs 10 each and Rs 6 per preference share of Rs 100 each for the financial year ended on March 31, 2012.

Aditya Birla Nuvo's scrip closed at Rs 807.00 per share, down 2.64 per cent from the previous close on the BSE.