Mumbai, July 28 - Grasim, an Aditya Birla Group company with interest in cement, chemicals and textiles, Tuesday reported a net profit of Rs.1,080 crore for the first quarter this fiscal, a 61 percent jump over the Rs.672 crore it earned in the year-ago period.

This included an extraordinary (non-recurring) gain of Rs.336 crore from the sale of sponge iron business, the company said in a regulatory statement.

Grasim's consolidated revenue for the quarter rose 15 percent to Rs.5,123 crore as against Rs.4,448 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal.

The company said its cement business has posted a robust performance with production rising 23 percent to 4.91 million tonnes.

Grasim said it has now earmarked Rs.4,160 crore as capital outlay for the cement business to be spent over the next two years.

Production of viscose staple fibre grew 7 percent to 62,352 tonnes.

However, its chemicals business was subdued, Grasim said, and attributed it to a steep fall in prices of chlorine and hydrochloric acid.