Century H1 Loss At Rs 38.5 Crore

The BK Birla group flagship Century Textiles and Industries, has posted a net loss of Rs 38.5 crore in the first half of 1998-99 against a net loss of Rs 21.1 crore in 1997-98.

The company's net sales are up 2.5 per cent to Rs 988.7 crore from Rs 964.5 crore. Other income is lower by 16 per cent at Rs 22.4 crore from Rs 26.8 crore the previous year.

This includes a surplus of Rs 3.98 crore from the sale of one ship as against Rs 13.6 crore, last year. The company has incurred expenditure of Rs 883 crore, 4.07 per cent higher than Rs 848.4 crore.

Century is a highly diversified company with presence in cotton textiles, chemicals, cement, shipping and viscose filament yarn. Poor demand in major industries like cement hit the bottomline hard and the company has been suffering since 1996-97. Gross profit fell to Rs 33.6 crore, a fall of 31 per cent from Rs 48.8 crore. Share of profit in the business consortium is Rs 11.6 crore up from Rs 6.1 crore last year. Interest charges are up 5.75 per cent to Rs 106 crore from Rs 100.3 crore.

Depreciation charges are up marginally to Rs 72 crore from Rs 69.9 crore. The company has made a provision of Rs 12 lakh as tax up from Rs 10 lakh in the first half of last year.