Gujarat Ambuja offers 40% interim dividend
By Pradeep Rane | 22 May 2002
The board of directors has approved the proposal for an interim dividend of 40 per cent, amounting to Rs 620 million.
The company also said cement dispatches increased by 19 per cent for the period July-April 2002 at 5.91 million tonnes, as against 4.98 million tonnes when compared to the same period the previous year.
GACL had reported a 9.3-per cent drop in net profit for the third quarter ended 31 March 2002 to Rs 54.4 crore, as against Rs 59.9 crore during the corresponding period last year. Net sales during the period rose by 11.4 per cent to Rs 430.4 crore from Rs 386.3 crore last year, while cement volumes sold during the three-month period shot up 30 per cent from 15.4 lakh tonnes to 20 lakh tonnes. The other income was also higher at Rs 4.6 crore — up from Rs 3.6 crore during January-March 2001.
GACL's financial year ends on 30 June. “We have done reasonably well despite lower cement prices and increase in fuel costs,“ says GACL whole-time director Anil Singhvi. For the nine-month period (July-March 2002), GACL reported a net profit of Rs 152.5 crore — up from Rs 111.1 crore in the previous year. Net sales shot up from Rs 1,017.7 crore to Rs 1,169.6 crore during the period.
During the third quarter, the cost of furnace oil was higher by around 6 per cent, while realisation on cement at Rs 2,150 per tonne was around 13 per cent lower compared to the same period last year.