India’s Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries reported a 48.8% decline in second-quarter profit on Monday, hurt by higher inventory costs due to a sugar export ban, which weighed on its margins.
The company, which supplies sugar to companies like Coca-Cola, Britannia, Dabur, said its consolidated profit before tax fell to 378.9 million rupees ($4.5 million) for the quarter ended Sept. 30, from 740.2 million rupees year ago.
Total expenses rose 26.8%, led by near-37% jump in inventory costs. This resulted in its margins contracting to 7% from 9% a year earlier.
However, revenue from operations rose 26.6% to 9.26 billion rupees.