India's JK Paper profit more than halves as competition, one-off charge weigh

JK Paper

05/02/2026 13:29

Feb 5 (Reuters) - Indian paper and packaging board maker JK Paper JKPA.NS posted a 58% drop in quarterly profit on Thursday, weighed down by intensifying competition and a one-off charge linked to the country's new labour codes.

JK Paper, which serves clients across sectors including consumer packaged goods and fast food, said consolidated profit after tax came in at 274 million rupees ($3.03 million) for the third quarter ended December 31.

   India's paper and packaging sector, which includes firms such as ITC ITC.NS and JK Paper, has also been under pressure for several quarters due to a surge in low-priced imports, forcing local companies to take price cuts at the expense of margins.

The industry has urged the government to curb low-priced imports of paperboards as well as coated and uncoated paper.

JK Paper also booked a one-off charge of 143.6 million rupees linked to the new labour codes, which have shaved millions off corporate earnings in India for the third quarter.

Revenue from operations rose 8% to 17.63 billion rupees for the third quarter.

The New-Delhi-based company supplies a spate of products including office paper, coated paper, writing and printing paper and packaging boards. It has customers in more than 60 countries, such as the United States and Singapore.

"Some improvement is anticipated in the coming quarter due to improved demand and reduction in input costs," Harsh Pati Singhania, chairman and managing director, said in a statement.

Peers Emami Paper Mills EMAP.NS and West Coast Paper Mills WSTC.NS are yet to report their results.

($1 = 90.3450 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru and Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar)

 ((UrviManoj.Dugar@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9558725583;))