Guj NRE coke sales up by 113 per cent

Ahmedabad, Apr 13 (UNI) Gujarat NRE Coke has posted much improved results in the quarter ending March 2007 with net sales shooting up to Rs 179.01 crore from Rs 83.95 crore during the quarter March 2006, recording a growth of 113 per cent.

This upswing in the sales has translated to a whooping 1,360 per cent jump in the Profit Before Tax of the company to Rs 60.45 crores - up from Rs. 4.14 crore in the preceding quarter.

The Earning per Share stands at Rs 2.09 in the current quarter, as opposed to Rs 0.56 (up 173 percent from the previous quarter).

The Book value of the company too has gone up substantially to Rs 23.91 per share (Rs 21.77).

The net import demand of equivalent coal, which stood at 21 million tonnes in 2004-5, is currently pegged at 27 million tonnes and is expected to zoom up to 75 million tonnes by the year 2011-12 as the energy-hungry nation will seek to convert its Vision 2020 to a reality.

The Company has decided to double the coke-making capacity at Dharwad in Karnataka at a cost of Rs 70 crore. It has also decided to set up of Coal Washery in Bachau, Gujarat at a cost of Rs 15 crore and ower generation facility from waste heat in its plants 150 crore, said Company Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Arun Kumar Jagatrama to reporters.

The company will also consolidate the Australian and New Zealand operations spread over mining and resource prospecting at an investment of 50 million dollars. The company plans to finance all projects through internal resources and debts from the market.

The long-term production plans at the coal mines of the company in Australia are also in place. The company's first mine, NRE No 1 in NSW, with the present annual capacity of about one million tonnes excellent quality coal is now in the process of being scaled up and the company proposes to produce and ship a total of 5.5 million tonnes of coal per annum from the Australian mines in 4 years time.

Mr Jagatramka said the impact of the Central Governments Budget of 2007, which did away with customs duty on imported coking coal too will benefit the company in the coming years.

UNI