Phillips Carbon kicks off Rs 180 crore expansion

To jack up production by 63%

Phillips Carbon Black Ltd (PCBL), a RPG Enterprises company, has embarked upon a Rs 180 crore expansion.

The plan entails increasing production capacity by 63 per cent and adding power capacity by 37 mega watt.

Chairman Sanjiv Goenka said the company, which aims to be the largest carbon black exporter in Asia, will add 70,000-95,000 tonne at Baroda and 25,000 tonnes at Durgapur.

It will set up a 12 mw plant at Baroda and a 20 mw unit at Durgapur. PCBL has a combined capacity of 1.20-1.50 lakh tonne at Durgapur and 18,000 tonne at Baroda and the balance at Kochi.

The production hike will be completed by the second quarter of 2003-04, while power units will be commissioned by the third quarter of the next financial year.

The company will raise Rs 140 crore internally, while Rs 40 crore will be debt. Goenka said the expansion in Baroda, which followed signing of a memorandum of understanding with a foreign major to supply carbon black, is aimed at meeting most of the overseas demand.

Without disclosing the identity of the foreign company, he said the proposed deal would help PCBL export 25,000 tonne a year.

He said the company will acquire firms overseas, if needed, in the near future. Countries such as China and Sri Lanka are on top of the list.

PCBL today declared a 25 per cent dividend for the year ended September 30, 2003, compared with the previous year's 15 per cent.

The higher payout follows realisation of 244 per cent growth in net profit and 146 per cent growth in profit before tax.

The company's net profit went up to Rs 18.60 crore from the previous year's Rs 5.40 crore. Profit before tax grew up to Rs 24.34 crore from Rs 9.90 crore.

Goenka indicated that the company's performance, which had been on the rise over the past couple of years, will be even robust at the end of the current financial year.

He, however, declined to provide future guidance on numbers. He said the performance had been "very good" last year.