(Reuters) - India's Grasim Industries reported a lower second-quarter adjusted profit on Thursday, dragged down by poor demand in its paints division due to higher-than-usual monsoon rainfall.

The company, which also has chemicals and yarns businesses, reported a profit before exceptional items of 7.71 billion rupees ($91.4 million) in the three months ending Sept. 30, down 3% from a year ago.

Grasim's standalone numbers exclude earnings of its units UltraTech Cement and Aditya Birla Capital.

The company's paints division, launched earlier this year under the Birla Opus brand, has hurt its margins as the company continues to invest in the business.

Moreover, paint makers saw weak demand as the country saw above-average monsoon rainfall during the quarter, which impacted sales.

Grasim's revenue rose about 18% to 76.23 billion rupees for the quarter.

Its total expenses surged 26% to 78.65 billion rupees, causing Grasim's margins on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization to contract to 18% from 19% a year earlier.

Rivals Asian Paints, Berger Paints India and Kansai Nerolac Paints, all experienced a slump in profit, hurt by muted demand due to heavy monsoons.

($1 = 84.3970 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto and Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)