India's Dalmia Bharat Sugar posts six fold rise in Q2 profit

BENGALURU, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Indias Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries Ltd (DLMI.NS) on Monday said its September quarter profit rose more than six fold, aided by strong demand and higher domestic prices.

The New Delhi-based companys profit from continuing operations rose to 549 million rupees ($6.60 million) for the quarter from 117.1 million rupees a year earlier.

Revenue from operations jumped over 26% to 7.32 billion rupees.

Analysts said that a rise in domestic sugar prices would be the main driver for earnings growth. Higher prices help improve the margins of sugar makers, allowing them to make payments to farmers on time.

Sugar prices in India are near multi-year highs and production is likely to fall 8% to 33.7 million metric tons in the 2023/24 marketing year, because of weak monsoon in the top cane-growing states of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Dalmia Bharat Sugar also reported a year-over-year rise in profit in the previous three quarters.

Dalmias quarterly profit jump comes at a time when peer Dhampur Sugar Mills (DAMS.NS) posted a drop in second-quarter profit. Balrampur Chini Mills (BACH.NS) results are due on Tuesday.