MCF posts Rs.240 crore net loss in 2015-16

Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers Ltd (MCF) on Friday reported net loss of Rs.240.12 crore in 2015-16 as against net profit of Rs.37.5 crore in 2014-15 on standalone basis.

In a regulatory filing to the BSE, the Mangaluru-based company said it also posted net loss of Rs.5.78 crore for fourth quarter of 2015-16 as against net profit of Rs.34.05 crore in same quarter year ago.

Standalone net sales for fiscal under review, however, increased 16.4 percent to Rs.3,000 crore from Rs.2,577 crore year ago.

For Q4, net sales rose 12.9 percent to Rs.752 crore from Rs.666 crore year ago on standalone basis.

Though Zuari Fertilizer & Chemicals wrested control of MCF from liquor baron Vijay Mallya by buying his pledged shares and additional shares from the market in 2014, he remains its chairman, with his UB group holding 21.97 percent stake.

A forensic audit by global financial services firm Ernst & Young, however, found that MCF invested Rs.200 crore in Mallya's Bangalore Beverages Ltd and gave unspecified advances to his United Breweries Holdings Ltd (UBHL) when he was at its helm before Zuari took over with 53 percent controlling stake.

"E&Y audit report noted that UBHL still owes Rs.16.68 crore to MCF and said transactions between the two firms may have involved irregularities and mismanagement," the company said in the filing.

MCF also made a provision of Rs.200 crore for potential diminution in the value of investments in Bangalore Beverages, a subsidiary of UBHL, in its books of account for 2015-16.

--IANS

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