Nitco Tiles Q1 net profit up 61% to Rs 11 crore

· Net sales for Q1FY08 at Rs 116.50 crore up by 32%

· Net Profit for Q1FY08 at Rs 11 crore rose by 61%

· EPS for Q1FY08 works out to Rs 4.98 Vs Rs 3.10 in Q1FY07

· Knight Frank evaluates Nitco Realities business at Rs. 406 crore

Mumbai, July 23, 2007: Nitco Tiles Ltd, second largest tiles company in the country today announced a 61 % jump in its net profit for the first quarter ended June 30, 2007 to Rs 11.09 crore as against Rs 6.90 crore announced in the year-ago quarter.

Net Sales for the Q1FY08 stood at Rs. 116.50 crore; up by 32 % as against Rs 88.37 crore posted in the same period last year. Earnings Per Share (EPS) for the quarter stood at Rs 4.98 as compared to Rs 3.10 posted in Q1FY07.

Nitco Realties Pvt. Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of Nitco Tiles Ltd, appointed Knight Frank to evaluate some of the properties which are owned by Nitco Tiles / Nitco Realties or its SPV's. This includes properties which are in the process of being transferred under a court approved scheme of arrangement (final hearing fixed for August 17, 2007). For these initial set of properties Knight Frank has valued the Net Present Value of the land bank of Nitco at Rs. 406 crore. These projects will be completed over a period of 3 years.

Commenting on the results Mr. Vivek Talwar, Managing Director, Nitco Tiles, said: "The robust growth during the quarter was primarily contributed on account of 43% increase in sales of Ceramic and Vitrified Tiles and we expect this trend to continue on account of sustained buoyancy in the construction and real estate sector".