Gitanjali Gems on Thursday confirmed that lower sales and higher finance cost dragged its net profit down by 75 per cent in the three months ended September 30.

In a afiling with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the company said it generated a net profit of Rs 37.82 crore in the July-September quarter, as against a net profit of Rs 151.65 crore in the corresponding period of last year.

Net sales slipped 23 per cent, from Rs 3,928.25 crore in the September quarter of 2012 to Rs 3,003.70 crore in the same quarter of this year.

Gitanjali Gems' profit suffered the year-on-year drastic decline in profit due to lower sales and higher costs. The company's finance cost jumped 79 per cent to Rs 183 crore, while interest cost increased from Rs 98 crore to Rs 178 crore. Employee costs increased from Rs 74 crore to Rs 87 crore.

However, the gems giant enjoyed an impressive increase of 206 per cent in other income to Rs 88 crore. Diamond segment net profit jumped 160 per cent to Rs 47 crore, but jewellery segment net profit slipped 58 per cent to Rs 87 crore.

Apart from India, Gitanjali Gems operates in the U. S., China, Japan and some countries of Europe and West Asia. Stock in Gitanjali Gems gained 1.66 per cent to close Thursday's trading at Rs 58.30 a share on the BSE.