Deepak Fertilisers And Petrochemicals (DEEPAKFERT) Q4 97/98 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY97-98 sales including other income reached Rs. 41,419.09 lacs vs Rs. 29,827.14 lacs; net profit rose to Rs. 5,114.55 lacs from Rs. 2,915.66 lacs.

• Plants ran at high utilization and several products reached record output; a 15% equity dividend was recommended, restoring dividends after six years.

Financial highlights

• Net sales excluding excise and sales tax were Rs. 40,512.60 lacs; other income was Rs. 906.49 lacs, bringing total income to Rs. 41,419.09 lacs.

• Profit before depreciation was Rs. 10,587.10 lacs; reported PBT was Rs. 6,018.11 lacs and PAT Rs. 5,114.55 lacs.

• Extraordinary items reduced pre-tax profit by Rs. 2,384.05 lacs net of tax; items included prior-year depreciation, suspended-project write-offs and a gas-price provision reversal.

• Interest and financial charges fell to Rs. 3,791.59 lacs from Rs. 4,009.51 lacs; manufacturing and other expenses rose to Rs. 27,428.46 lacs from Rs. 20,372.20 lacs.

Outlook and guidance

• FY98-99 targets were expected to track the prior year's performance despite a nitric-acid line shutdown of ~45 days for repairs beginning June 1998.

• CNA retrofit aimed to raise capacity from 100 to 130 MTPD; ammonia plant retrofit and conversion of a boiler from gas to naphtha were underway.

• Strategic priorities included debottlenecking, efficiency gains, stronger marketing and distribution, upstream/downstream projects, and expansion in speciality agro-inputs.