Chemicals company United Phosphorus has decided to prune its dividend size from 20 per cent to 10 per cent due to cash flow problems.
At the annual general meeting of the company today, shareholders said paying such a high dividend was not feasible in light of the liquidity crunch faced by the company and the slowdown in global economy.
The company subsidiaries too have made losses pushing the company to clip its annual dividend, they added.
Search Chem Industries Ltd, a 53.10 per cent subsidiary of United Phosphorous, made a loss of Rs 62.93 crore, while Inventa Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary, made a loss of $0.2 million.
United Phos de Mexico S A de CV made a loss of 14,62,940 Mexican pesos, while United Phosphorous, UK, made a loss of over POUND 5 million.
The company's profits were down 36 per cent at Rs 22.04 crore, as against Rs 34.52 crore in March 2000, while turnover was at Rs 531.17 crore, as compared with Rs 529.30 crore in March 2000.
Total loans as on March 31, 2001, amounted to Rs 392.01 crore, as against Rs 376.71 crore in 2000.
Total interest outgo for the year remained flat at Rs 36.67 crore, while reserves were pegged at Rs 409.20 crore, as against Rs 398.19 crore in 2000.
