Net sales declined 2.3% to Rs 1,197.94 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2023 from Rs 1,225.67 crore recorded in Q1 FY23.

The de-growth in the net turnover was primarily driven by lower turnover in the sugar business while the alcohol and aggregate engineering turnover improved over the previous corresponding period.

Profit before tax was at Rs 91 crore in Q1 FY24, up 2.6% as against Rs 88.68 crore reported in Q1 FY23.

EBITDA grew by 10.8% year on year to Rs 137.12 crore during the quarter. EBITDA margin improved to 11.4% in Q1 FY24 as compared to 10.1% recorded in the corresponding quarter previous year.

The company said that the sugar turnover declined 15.2% in Q1 FY24 over Q1 FY23 after considering exports, driven by a 21.7% decline in domestic sales volumes due to lower domestic quota allocations. Sales volumes for the current quarter includes exports of 14,531 tonnes of sugar at remunerative prices, while there were no exports in previous corresponding period.

Alcohol business turnover (net of excise duty) increased by 21.4% due to higher sales volumes driven by higher distillation capacities and increased activities in Indian Made Indian Liquor (IMIL).

Combined engineering turnover grew by 24.2% boosted by a 77.8% increase in power transmission business.

On a consolidated basis, the total debt is at Rs 1011.07 crore as compared to Rs 913.83 crore as on 31 March 2023 and Rs 1617.68 crore as on 30 June 2022. Overall average cost of funds is at 6.71% during Q1 FY24 as against 5.04% in Q1 FY23.

Dhruv M. Sawhney, chairman and managing director, Triveni Engineering & Industries, “Alcohol and Engineering businesses contributed to 60% of the total segment results. The company is also in the process of increasing its refined sugar production to approximately 70% (up from around 60% currently) by changing the manufacturing process at its sugar unit in Milak Narayanpur. Activities previously announced pertaining to modernisation, debottlenecking and efficiency improvements are progressing well.

In the Alcohol business, we have been a strong supporter of the Government's Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme and have actively bolstered our capacities while keeping pace with the expanding range of feedstocks for bio-ethanol production. We successfully raised our distillation capacity from 320 KLPD in FY 22 to an impressive 660 KLPD presently. Looking ahead, we are ambitiously planning to further expand our capacity to 1110 KLPD.

Our Engineering businesses continue to perform well with healthy order books and enquiry pipelines. In the Power Transmission business, the demand for high-speed gear solutions is witnessing a significant upswing in recent times in industries across various sectors, such as, steel, oil & gas, petrochemicals, etc. as these are seeking advanced and efficient power transmission solutions to optimise their operations. In the Water business, the demand for reliable water and wastewater treatment solutions is on the rise both in India and in International markets.”

Triveni Engineering & Industries (TEIL) is a diversified industrial conglomerate having core competencies in the areas of sugar, alcohol, power transmission and water. The company is one of India's largest integrated sugar manufacturers and one of the largest ethanol manufacturers, while making significant contributions in Power Transmission and in Water & Wastewater treatment solutions.

Shares of Triveni Engineering & Industries slumped 6.27% to Rs 308.15 on the BSE.