The world’s largest coal producer, Coal India Ltd (CIL), has posted an 11.7 per cent drop in its stand-alone net profit at Rs 1,223.5 crore for the quarter ended March 31, compared with Rs 1,385.7 crore in the year-ago period.
The state-owned firm’s income from operations dropped 7.82 per cent to Rs 154.62 crore, from Rs 167.73 crore a year earlier.
The coal producer’s net profit for 2011-12, however, rose to Rs 8,065 crore, from Rs 4,696 crore the financial year before, CIL said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange.
CIL’s tax expense in the March quarter stood at Rs 258.8 crore, against Rs 122.7 crore in the year-ago period. According to a top company official, this numbers cannot be considered as performance-based result, as it is just the stand-alone result. The Kolkata-based firm has set a production target of 468 million tonnes for 2012-13. Meanwhile, PTI quoted a source in the coal ministry saying the firm was mulling exiting International Coal Ventures Ltd, the special purpose vehicle formed to acquire coal mines abroad.
“Informally, CIL has said it wants to quit ICVL, but the coal ministry has not received any proposal from CIL on the same,” the source said. However, he did not give the reasons for the exit.
Another source in CIL said, “Coal India was not just mulling exiting ICVL, but is one step ahead.”
ICVL Chairman C S Verma said, “I have not received any such communication and I don't think that the PSU firm will quit ICVL.”