Kolkata, April 24th, 2008. The Board of Directors of Gujarat NRE Coke today met and approved the Unaudited Financial Results (reviewed) for the quarter ended March 31st 2008.
During the quarter, Income from operations went up to Rs.380 crores as against Rs 179 crores in the quarter ended March 2007 while the Profit after current taxes increased to Rs 72 crores. Year on year also, the results have shown a significant upward trend. During 2007-08, the company’s income from operations went upto Rs.874 crores (1.7 times of last year) and Profit after current taxes jumped to Rs.191 crores (2.9 times of the same in previous year). Basic EPS for the year has been Rs.5.97 per share (Previous year – Rs.3.16 per share).
Commenting on the result, Mr Arun Kumar Jagatramka, Vice Chairman and Managing Director said, " we have always been a performance driven company and I am happy that the way we have been able to merge our performance acceleration with the company's growth momentum." Gujarat NRE Coke is India's largest independent producer of Low Ash Metallurgical Coke (LAMC) a commodity that is witnessing a global surge in demand and price. With China gradually moving towards a controlled export regime as witnessed by the imposition of "export tax" twice last year, the spot prices are now hovering above the US $ 600 per ton range (up from less than US$200 last year) which has also found reflection in the results to some extent.
However, the price hike is only a part of the various reasons that have lead to the current improvement in the posted figures. Gujarat NRE coke, the only listed company in the domain in India, is also one of the most well integrated, efficient entities in the mid cap segment. The company, the first and till now is the only Indian company to own and operate coal mines in Australia has not only secured its supply lines and erected a hedge against input cost fluctuations, but has also emerged as a company whose operations are integrated from the mine to the market.
Mr Jagatramka also said, "with India's steel making capacities now being pegged to go up to 300 MT by the year 2020 and most of it taking the blast furnace route, we foresee a huge demand supply imbalance as far as hard Coking coal is concerned. We already have a situation of "Coal Criticality" staring on our face and we foresee that things will only worsen from here, if drastic steps are not taken immediately. However, as the only stand alone producer in India we are very confident to posting better results in the years to come, as robust demand on the one hand and increasing supply from our captive coal mines on the other, will stand us in good stead in the years to come".
For More Information Contact :
Mr P R Kannan, CFO,
at +(91)9836074444 or +61- 42538360
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