Gulf Oil Q4 Net up 2 per cent at Rs 18.35 crore

Gulf Oil Corp Ltd, a Hinduja Group firm, has reported a marginal two per cent rise in its fourth quarter net profit at Rs 18.35 crore.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 18.02 crore in January-March 2013.
The turnover soared to Rs 272.30 crore in January-March 2014 from Rs 231.84 crore in the same period a year ago.
The company had in April paid an interim dividend of Rs 2.50 per share.
"The Board (of Gulf Oil) has recommended that the Interim Dividend be treated as the Final Dividend for the financial year 2013-14," it said in a statement.

Gulf Oil said the demerger of the lubricants business from the company and transferring it to Gulf Oil Lubricants India Ltd (GOLIL), a wholly-owned subsidiary, has been sanctioned by the High Court of Andhra Pradesh.

Shares of GOLIL will also be listed on BSE and NSE, after completion of the necessary legal formalities.
"In terms of the approved Scheme, for every 2 fully paid up equity shares of face value Rs 2 of Gulf Oil Corporation Ltd (GOCL ), all existing shareholders as on record date, to be announced shortly, will be allotted 1 share of GOCL (face value Rs 2) and 1 share of GOLIL (face value Rs 2)," it said.

Also, after the divestment of three overseas subsidiaries at Bangladesh, China and Indonesia, the company retains the UK subsidiary, which holds 10 per cent stake in the Houghton International Inc, USA.
"The company is in discussions on various proposals for maximising its value," Gulf Oil said.
On financial results, it said demand conditions for lubricants continued to be subdued in Q4, impacted by lower goods movement, slowdown in mining, infrastructure segments and poor industrial growth factors.
During the fourth quarter, the Explosives Division at Hyderabad, which manufactures detonators and accessories, achieved sales of Rs 18.22 crore (as against Rs 21.73 crore last year) due to the shutdown of the Detonating Fuse (DF) plant after an accident in April 2013.

The DF plant has since restarted production in the month of February 2014.
"Production and sales of detonators decreased in Q4 due to sluggish demand in the mining sectors and subdued export demand on account of stringent rules introduced by the Government of India regarding usage of Ammonium Nitrate," it said.
Gulf Oil said operations of the mining and infrastructure division have been completely scaled down due to major projects being under temporary suspension for want of various government/ regulatory clearances.