Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) Q4 97/98 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Record turnover of Rs. 126,340 lakh vs Rs. 108,050 lakh; nitrogen output and fertiliser sales increased, while profit after tax declined YoY.

• No dividend proposed for FY97-98 to conserve resources amid projected weak FY98-99 results.

Financial highlights

• Net sales after discounts and dealer margins were Rs. 105,455.79 lakh vs Rs. 92,766.90 lakh; total income was Rs. 124,438.57 lakh vs Rs. 106,413.26 lakh.

• Operating profit fell to Rs. 5,919.40 lakh from Rs. 7,100.54 lakh; PBT was Rs. 6,062.38 lakh vs Rs. 7,115.20 lakh, and PAT was Rs. 5,394.38 lakh vs Rs. 6,178.27 lakh.

• Interest rose to Rs. 1,527.51 lakh from Rs. 1,354.71 lakh; depreciation increased to Rs. 3,147.32 lakh from Rs. 2,855.81 lakh.

Outlook and guidance

• FY98-99 results expected to be seriously affected by continuing cost and pricing pressures, plus higher interest and depreciation after capitalisation of the new ammonia project.

• Residual work on the ammonia storage tank, connecting subway, purge gas recovery unit and a captive power plant boiler was scheduled for completion in FY98-99.