Tata Chemicals posts consolidated loss of Rs.74.17 crore during Q4

Tata Chemicals Ltd on Wednesday said its consolidated loss for the quarter ended on March 31 narrowed down to Rs.74.17 crore against the loss of Rs.1,225.72 crore during the corresponding period of last year.

During the time period under review, on a consolidated basis, its total income increased marginally at Rs.3,742.53 crore compared to Rs.3,692.84 crore during January-March 2014.

On a stand-alone basis too, the company's profits in the last quarter of fiscal 2015 declined by 32.6 percent at Rs.54.72 crore as compared to Rs.81.14 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014.

The stand-alone total income, however, increased from Rs.2,003.32 crore during January-March 2014 to Rs.2,113.04 crore in the corresponding period in 2015.

For the fiscal ended March 31, the group posted a net profit of Rs.596.46 crore compared to net loss of Rs.1,032 crore during 2013-14. The total income, however, registered an increase of 8.3 percent from Rs.15,885.35 crore for the year ended March 31, 2014 to Rs.17,202.94 crore for the year ended March 31, 2015.

The company said that despite good performance in the soda ash and salt business apart from a 47 percent increase of pulses sales during January-March 2015, the fertiliser business remained weak coupled with "margin pressures" in its urea and phosphatics business segment.

"The fertiliser business continues to be under pressure, despite excellent manufacturing performance, due to margin pressure and the effects of the delay in subsidy which is currently at Rs.1,972 crore.

"Recent policy announcement by government is being reviewed by the business to understand its implications. Going forward in the fiscal year 2015-16, we will continue to focus on reshaping the portfolio to enhance share of consumer product business and non-subsidised farm inputs business," the company's managing director R. Mukundan said in a statement.

He said the company's salt portfolio continues to grow consistently and it has maintained the leadership position with a market share of 67 percent in the national branded edible salt segment.