Tata Chemicals Q2 net at Rs 87.19 crore

Prasad Menon, the company managing director, yesterday said the project is at a preliminary stage and therefore the details, including whether the company would go for it alone or be in partnership, are yet to be finalised.

"Various options are being examined. If everything goes well then it should be ready in four years from project approval," he said.

In the quarterly results presented on Tuesday, P K Ghose, chief financial officer, Tata Chemicals, pointed out that the company's debt-equity ratio had improved from 0.45 to 0.31. "Seventy per cent of debt is now short-term supplier credit," he said.

Senior officials see the balance sheet as well poised to take on expansion projects. "Now is the time to look for growth," Menon said. The company has de-bottlenecking projects on the anvil.

For the second quarter, the company reported a profit after tax of Rs87.19 crore (Rs82.91 crore for the previous corresponding period) on net sales / income from operations of Rs729.02 crore (Rs809.53 crore).

The lower income was attributed to rising raw material costs, high freight charge and the impact of a transport strike followed by one from contractors. Menon said he expected commodity prices to rule firm for some more time before any relief. Even if Chinese consumption responsible for driving commodity prices begins cooling down, other countries such as Brazil are showing strong demand.