Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd (IPCL) yesterday reported an 88 drop in net profit to Rs 29.36 crore from the earlier Rs 244 crore in the previous year.
IPCL's net sales in 1998-99 were, however, up 4.4 per cent at Rs 3,115 crore. IPCL said that it will pay a dividend of 1 rupee per 10-rupee face value share.
The company's other income had fallen to Rs 79.4 crore from the previous Rs 112 crore.
More From This Section
The interest outgo was marginally higher at Rs 262 crore from the previous Rs 232 crore and depreciation charges were also higher by around Rs 46 crore at Rs 270 crore up from the earlier Rs 237.3 crore.
The company's earning per share (EPS) has crashed to Rs 1.2 from the previous Rs 9.8. Poor petrochemical prices over the whole year brought down profitability of the company, which is India's second-largest petrochemicals company after Reliance Industries.
The government has already decided to divest 25 per cent of its stake in IPCL to bring it to 26 per cent. Foreign institutional investor Warburg Dillon Read has been appointed to find a buyer for the stake. during the past three trading sessions, the foreign funds are reportedly back scouting for value.
However, the money that came by way of participatory note route is being