Ipcl First Half Sales May Be Lower By Nine Per Cent

Subsequently, the net profit for the first half of the current year is likely to be lower by 27 per cent at Rs 220 crore against Rs 305 crore in April-September 1995.

Addressing the twenty seventh annual general meeting, K G Ramanathan, chairman and managing director, said the company's profit margins were affected due to the depressed international prices of polymers and reduction in custom duties.

Further, the recent 10 per cent hike in the administered prices of naphtha and other petroleum feedstock squeezed the company's margins. During 1995-96, IPCL has recommended highest dividend of 40 per cent.

The company achieved highest sales turnover at Rs 3,804 crore in 1995-96, an increase of 19 per cent over Rs 3,193 crore in 1994-95. The net profit stood at Rs 604 crore as against Rs 562 crore, an increase of 7.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, the company has commissioned the new grass-root polybutadiene rubber plant of 30,000 tonnes capacity at Vadodara.

Indian Petrochemicals Corpo-ration has also completed butadiene revamp project while it is expected to commission polyporpylnene plant of 75,000 tonnes by the end of this week.