State-run iron ore miner NMDC today posted a 21 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 1,567 crore for the third quarter ended December, aided by higher sales.
The company, which has the largest share in the country' iron ore market, had clocked Rs 1,293 crore net profit in the October-December quarter of the last fiscal, NMDC Chairman C S Verma told reporters here.
Turnover of the company rose 38 per cent to Rs 2,823 crore on higher sales of iron ore, which stood at 7.34 million tonnes (MT) during the quarter.
Production of the company also improved to 7.3 MT during the quarter, which is an increase of 36 per cent over the same period last fiscal.
The company's board has recommended second interim dividend of 550 per cent in its meeting today taking the total interim divided of 850 per cent, which amounts to Rs 3,370 crore, so far in the ongoing fiscal.
Verma said this record dividend was to award the shareholders of the company on its improved show.
However, he said that the company was on track to achieve its capex target of Rs 2,720 crore for the current fiscal. So far in the month, it has spent Rs 1,679 crore, the highest-ever in the nine-month period.
Better price could have helped the company post a good show. NMDC hiked the price of the fines variety of the raw material by Rs 100 a tonne from the beginning of the current month, but left the price of lumps unchanged.
Verma said the company would look at the demand-supply scenario at the beginning of the next month before considering further hike in the prices. "It is difficult to predict the prices now," he said, adding that the demand for iron ore from the steel makers was positive.
