JK Paper Ltd on Thursday reported a 72.23 percent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 33.40 crore for the quarter ended September, affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The company, whose board on Thursday approved a proposal to raise up to Rs 260 crore from the market, had posted a net profit of Rs 120.29 crore in the July-September period a year ago, JK Paper said in a regulatory filing.

Revenue from operations dropped 17.56 percent to Rs 702.09 crore during the quarter under review, as against Rs 851.66 crore in the corresponding period of FY20. Total expenses of the firm, which makes branded copier paper, coated paper and packaging boards, stood at Rs 599.19 crore as against Rs 632.85 crore earlier, down 5.31 percent.

"Operations of the Company continued to be affected significantly during the early part of the quarter, due to lockdowns in several parts of the country.

"Demand from the education segment, one of the key demand drivers continued to languish with schools and colleges remaining closed throughout the quarter," the company said in a post-earnings statement.

Writing and printing paper demand has been particularly affected due to very low activity in the printing and publishing segments, it added. "Towards the end of the quarter however there were some signs of a pick up in demand. The Packaging Board segment has performed relatively better," it said.

For the first half (April-September) of the fiscal, JK Paper's consolidated net profit tumbled 85.21 percent to Rs 36.06 crore, from Rs 243.84 crore in H1 FY20. Revenue from operations declined 24.78 percent to Rs 1,213.20 crore, as against Rs 1,612.98 crore in the first half of the preceding fiscal.

In a separate filing, JK Paper said its board in a meeting held on Thursday "accorded its consent to the proposed issue of redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures of upto Rs. 260 crore, in one or more tranches, on private placement basis".

First Published:Oct 30, 2020 1:25 PM IST