Other income stood at Rs 20.49 crore up by 393%. Other income included some some written back of provisions and higher interest income. Interest cost was higher by 27% to Rs 15.19 crore, depreciation stood at Rs 39.17 crore up by 28% YoY, resulting in a PBT of Rs 65.96 crore up by 9% YoY.

There was a forex loss of about Rs 7.33 crore as compared to forex loss of Rs 1.12 crore for Dec'15 quarter. After total tax and MI of Rs 18.6 crore and Rs 2.08 crore, consolidated PAT for Dec'16 quarter stood at Rs 37.95 crore down by 8% YoY.

Net Sales from Amesa region grew by 4% to Rs 234.16 crore, that from EAP region was up by 2% to Rs 138.50 crore, from America region, net sales was up by 9% to Rs 122.27 crore and that from EU region stood at Rs 127.23 crore, up by 54% y.o.y.

PBIT from Amesa region for Dec'16 quarter was lower by 29% to Rs 21.49 crore with PBIT margin at 9.2%, that from EAP region, was lower by 32% to Rs 20.31 crore with PBIT margin of 14.7%, from America region, was up by 1% to Rs 15.99 crore with PBIT margin of 13.1%, while EU region the company reported profit of Rs 2.26 crore as compared to a profit at PBIT level of Rs 5.16 crore for Dec'15 quarter.

Business Highlights for the Quarter ended Dec 2016:

Sharply reduced revenue growth in India Operations on account of offtake contraction by FMCG customers following demonetization on 8th November 2016, estimated to cause revenue loss of Rs. 27 crore and EBIT reduction of Rs. 12 crore.

Impact of full consolidation of EDG (German subsidiary) effective 1st October 2016, revenue Rs. 51.05 crore and EBIT Rs. (-) 1.75 crore. EDG operations are being revamped to improve its profile to match Essel's margin profile in Europe. Europe excluding EDG shows a decline in the revenue due to delays in new customer development in the non-oral care category. However, the margin has been sustained.

ROE and ROCE on TTM basis is at 16.9% and 16.5% respectively compared to 17.5% and 16.8% previous quarter.

Overall:

The quarter could have been much better, but for India growth stalling post demonetization. As the demand revives in India and EDG margin profile improves, the business should revert to healthy margin and profit growth in line with our 20:20:20 strategy.

Performance for the 9 months ended Dec'16

For the 9 months ended Dec'16, consolidated net sales were up by 7% to Rs 1689.71 crore. OPM was lower by 130 bps to 18.3% thus resulting in a OP of Rs 308.87 crore which was flat on YoY basis. Other income was up by 123% to Rs 29.72 crore resulting in a 5% increase in PBDIT to Rs 338.59 crore. Interest cost was lower by 7% to Rs 42.43 crore, depreciation stood at Rs 103.58 crore up by 12% YoY, resulting in a PBT before forex and EO of Rs 192.58 crore which was up by 4% on YoY basis. There was a forex loss of about Rs 7.42 crore as compared to forex loss of Rs 4.51 crore for 9 months ended Dec'15. There was an EO gain of Rs 23.92 crore pertaining to reversal of associate share of EDG business as per revised Accounting standard which resulted in a PBT after EO of Rs 209.08 crore up by 9% YoY. After total tax and MI of Rs 60.08 crore and Rs 2.66 crore, consolidated PAT for 9 months ended Dec'16 stood at Rs 146.34 crore up by 11% YoY.

Net Sales from Amesa region was flat at around Rs 733.59 crore, that from EAP region was down 1% to Rs 412.68 crore, from America region, net sales was up by 4% to Rs 360.08 crore and that from EU region stood at Rs 297.06 crore, up by 19% y.o.y.

PBIT from Amesa region for Dec'16 quarter was up by 38% at Rs 90.44 crore with PBIT margin at 12.3%, that from EAP region, was higher by 26% to Rs 60.97 crore with PBIT margin of 14.8%, from America region, was higher by 40% to Rs 40.08 crore with PBIT margin of 11.1%, while EU region the company reported profit of Rs 14.05 crore as compared to a profit at PBIT level of Rs 9.75 crore for 9 months ended Dec'15, up by 44%.