Itc Bhadra Turns Around, Net At Rs 34.89 Crore

ITC Bhadrachalam Paperboards has reported a turnaround performance for the year ended March 2001, even as its profitability was effected in the last quarter. The company registered a net profit of Rs 34.89 crore on a turnover of Rs 623.40 crore for the fiscal.

The company had posted a loss of Rs 32.12 crore on a of Rs 457.10 crore turnover during the previous year.

Operating profit grew by 51.81 per cent to Rs 117.76 crore, while turnover was up by 36.37 per cent. The company could improve profitability by changing the product mix in favour of value-added products on the one hand and improving operational efficiency on the other.

Interest cost of the company has also come down substantially to Rs 41.84 crore for the fiscal 2000-01, as against Rs 67.17 crore in the preceding year, due to the substitution of high cost debt with low cost debt.

ITC Bhadrachalam, whose net profit was Rs 31.96 crore for the nine-month period ended December 2000, ended up with a marginal profit in the last quarter. The dip was due to a shut down of one paper machine for two weeks in January and a fire accident that occurred on March 22.

The company had incurred an expenditure of Rs 5 crore to restore the operations after the fire. It is partly recoverable from insurer and the loss on account of production stoppage is estimated at Rs 2.25 crore, the company said.

The board of the company, which met in Kolkata today to take on record its annual results, could not recommend any dividend to the shareholders "in view of the accumulated losses of the earlier years".

According to the latest distribution schedule, non-promoter shareholding in the company had come down to 40.04 per cent as on March 31 2001 compared with 44.58 per cent at the end of the previous year.

Parent company ITC Ltd had increased its stake through creeping acquisition route. Now, ITC along with its subsidiaries hold about 60 per cent stake in ITC Bhadrachalam. The paid-up capital of the company is Rs 87.74 crore.