Dr Beck Net Plunges 51.5% To Rs 1.96 Cr

Even as net sales of Dr Beck & Company (India) Ltd of the BASF group went up by 8.24 per cent in financial year 1996-97, net profit slumped by 51.5 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year. Following the weak bottomline, the board of directors has recommended a dividend of 15 per cent as against 20 per cent declared in the previous year.

Net sales of the company increased from Rs 65.11 crore to Rs 70.48 crore, while other income slipped from Rs 3.14 crore to Rs 1.93 crore. Net profit tumbled to Rs 1.96 crore from Rs 4.04 crore. Gross profit before interest, depreciation, tax and excess provision for taxation for earlier years dropped to Rs 5.35 crore from Rs 8.74 crore.

 

The $30-billion BASF group of Germany, which holds 51 per cent stake in Dr Beck & Co (India), had earlier announced plans to divest as it proposes to focus on its core competency in automotive OEM coatings, automotive refinishing paints, industrial and container coatings..

For this, BASF is on a lookout for a single buyer to take over the entire global operations of Dr Beck's electrical insulation systems business.

Meanwhile, BASF AG has decided to seek the assistance of Goldman Sachs & Co to undertake the sale of Dr Beck's entire worldwide operations during the current calendar year.