Kolkata, May 13 Usha Martin Ltd, a major producer of specialty steel and one of the largest wire manufacturers, will achieve increased steel manufacturing capacity of 700,000 tonnes by June and 900,000 tonnes by March next year.
Giving this information to newspersons here, Mr Prashant Jhawar, Vice-Chairman, and Mr Rajeev Jhawar, Managing Director, said Rs 1,683 crore out of the programmed expenditure of Rs 2,100 crore had been spent on capacity expansion and modernisation till March 31, 2009.
Despite the global downturn, the Jhawars sounded optimistic about export prospects in the current year when they hoped to touch about Rs 750-800 crore, up from Rs 650 crore in 2008-09.
In the fourth quarter of 2008-09, the company on a standalone basis, despite posting 7.5 per cent growth in net sales at Rs 530.05 crore, suffered a 52 per cent drop in profit after tax at Rs 21.27 crore (Rs 44.31 crore).
On a consolidated basis, the company, during the quarter under review, showed 42.9 per cent drop in profit after tax at Rs 28.83 crore (Rs 50.52 crore). The net sales (net of inter-segment adjustment) clocked 5.1 per cent growth at Rs 706.47 crore (Rs 672.50 crore).
The company attributed the drop in the fourth quarter profits to full absorption of the high cost inventory in addition to the impact of global recession causing sharp decline in demand and prices of the products. Also, a foreign exchange loss of Rs 74 crore caused by the depreciation of the rupee was taken in the profit and loss account.
During the year ended March 31, 2009, the consolidated turnover grew by 24.5 per cent to Rs 3,146.79 crore (Rs 2,527.66 crore), net sales by 27.8 per cent to Rs 2,949.85 crore (Rs 2,308.77 crore), and profit after tax by 5.7 per cent to Rs 185.34 crore (Rs 175.39 crore).
On a standalone basis, the company’s gross sales during the year under review increased by 24.5 per cent to Rs 2,307.21 crore (Rs 1,852.77 crore), net sales by 28.5 per cent to Rs 2,127.23 crore (Rs 1,655.90 crore).
Source : Business Line