Profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2007 slipped to Rs 32.61 crore from Rs 57.99 crore in the year-ago period. The fall in profit was mainly on account of higher operational costs, lower capacity utilisation and a marginal fall in freight rates. Wage bill, particularly for floating staff, went up by 56 per cent and bunker (fuel) cost by 24 per cent. Interest payment increased by 35 per cent.
Lower volume of LPG import by public sector oil also affected utilisation fleet capacity, said Mr Yudhishthir Khatau, Managing Director of the company. He said the Wage Bill, particularly of floating staff, rose to 8.72 per cent of the turnover from 6.77 per cent last year.
Income from operations remained almost flat at Rs 191.33 crore as against Rs 190.35 crore. "We are trying to have to balanced mix of fleet, which enable us to hedge against the industry cycles," said Mr Khatau. The company has spent $320 million last year, out of the $400 million capex plan announced, to acquire crude tankers and offshore vessels as part of the fleet diversification plan. The balance $80 million would be invested this year.
The company, which proposed to enhance its presence in the offshore sector, has its newly acquired anchor handling, towing and supply vessel on long-term time charter with Reliance Industries.
The company currently has a fleet of 19 vessels and two more will be added shortly.
For the full year, the company's net profit was Rs 141.34 crore as against Rs180.89 crore in the previous year.
The board of directors has recommended a final divided of Rs 1.5 per share taking the total to Rs 4.5 per share of Rs 10 face value. Mr Khatau said the company has been consistently paying dividend for the last 25 years.
Source B Line
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment