NEW DELHI: Leading tea grower firm McLeod Russel today reported widening of its standalone net loss at Rs 235.67 crore in the fourth quarter of the 2015-16 fiscal on higher expenses and financial cost.The Kolkata-based company had posted a net loss of Rs 207.95 crore in the same quarter previous year, it said in a BSE filing.While net sales grew slightly to Rs 317.32 crore in the January-March quarter of the 2015-16 fiscal from Rs 311.27 crore in the year-ago period, the expenses were up at Rs 560.66 crore as against Rs 525.25 crore in the said period.Even the company's financial cost remained higher at Rs 25.59 crore in the fourth quarter of 2015-16 fiscal as compared to Rs 16.32 crore in the year ago period.However, for the full 2015-16 fiscal, the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 37.30 crore, slightly better than Rs 31.17 crore achieved in the previous fiscal.The company is one of the largest tea plantation companies in the world and produces around 100 million kg of tea a year from its estates in Assam and West Bengal and other estates in Vietnam Uganda and Rwanda

Source: Economic Times May 30, 2016 15:00 UTC