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IPCL net dips in Q1 on soft product prices

Our Bureau

AHMEDABAD, July 21

INDIAN Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd (IPCL) has returned a net profit of Rs 12.67 crore for the first quarter of 2001-02, down from Rs 35.47 crore in the corresponding period last year. Sales, however, went up to Rs 1,099.2 crore during the period under review, as against Rs 1,067.66 crore the previous year.

The operating profit stood at Rs 207.73 crore (Rs 258.1 crore). The company attributed the drop in net profit and operating margins to the softening of product prices, both in the domestic and international markets, and the hardening in the feedstock pri ces of naphtha, propane and C2/C3.

Interest payment for the period stood at Rs 91.1 crore (Rs 120.24 crore), while depreciation was at Rs 103.96 crore (Rs 102.39 crore).

The board of directors of IPCL, which met in Vadodara today, expressed satisfaction over the company's performance amidst difficult market conditions. The aggregate production from all three plants of the petrochemicals company -- Vadodara, Nagothane and Gandhar-- stood at 3.21 lakh tonnes, marginally down from 3.34 lakh tonnes in April-June last year. The sales volume went up by 10 per cent to 3.31 lakh tonnes from three lakh tonnes in the previous year.