Grasim has registered revenue growth of 10 per cent at Rs. 8,419 crores during the fourth quarter of 2013-14. Net profit after minority interest is up 11 per cent at Rs. 679 crores and sequentially up by 105 per cent from Rs. 332 crores. There was an exceptional gain of Rs. 204 crores on the sale of Grasim’s stake in Alexandria Carbon Black and Thai Carbon Black.
Despite the current prevailing economic slowdown, volumes have been augmented in all the businesses, viz., VSF, chemical and cement, driven by the commissioning of new capacities. While revenue increased by five per cent at Rs. 29,324 crores (Rs. 27,909 crores), during the year, net profit was Rs. 2,072 crores (Rs. 2,500 crores). An overcapacity in VSF business globally and cement business in India impacted the realisations and profitability.
The VSF volume continued its upward trend. For the quarter, volumes crossed 99k tonnes, recording a growth of four per cent y-o-y. Development activities in the domestic market led to an improvement in demand, supported by higher production at Harihar. The demand-supply imbalance and the liquidity crunch in China impacted VSF prices in global markets. 
The company was able to maintain its realisations, aided by rupee depreciation. However, rupee depreciation has led to pulp costs moving up. This has created pressure on margins.
Trial run for the greenfield VSF project at Vilayat in Gujarat commenced for line I in April and that for line 2 will start soon. These two lines have a capacity of 77K TPA out of total capacity of 120K TPA, both to be commissioned in the second quarter of the current year.
In the VSF sector, margins are likely to remain under pressure in the near term due to overcapacity in China. The slowdown in new capacity additions in China should lead to improvement in industry utilisation. With additional capacity underway, the company is well equipped to further consolidate its leadership position in the industry.