Mumbai: Nirma Ltd has registered gross sales of Rs 648.08 crore during the first quarter ended 30 June 2002 - a growth of 4 per cent over Rs 621.37 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The profit before depreciation, interest and tax has increased from Rs 123.82 crore to Rs 130.40 crore during the period. The interest cost has declined significantly from Rs 30.64 crore to Rs 18.95 crore, whereas the depreciation charge is flat at Rs 29.14 crore against Rs 29.91 crore.

The profit before tax has jumped by 30 per cent from Rs 63.27 crore to Rs 82.31 crore. The provision for tax has gone up by 230 per cent from Rs 4.85 crore to Rs 16 crore. The provision for deferred tax for the quarter under review has been Rs 20.29 crore.

There was no such provision requirement during the corresponding period. As a result the net profit has been Rs 45.45 crore in the first quarter of the current financial year against Rs 58.63 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. This translates into an earnings-per-share of Rs 5.73 for the first quarter of FY 2003.

Due to persistent marketing efforts, the company has registered a positive growth across all segments, both as compared with the corresponding quarter of the previous year and the immediately preceding quarter. The encouraging results in the operations are the combined effect of the improvement in the general sentiments across the fast-moving consumer goods sector and the consequent increase in the market share.

The increase in gross sales of 4 per cent over the corresponding quarter confirms an upward trend that the company was anticipating since the last three quarters. The capacity utilisation of LAB and soda ash was persistently higher.

Significantly, the operating margin has grown to 23 per cent in the first quarter of the current year as compared to 21 per cent in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Interest costs have declined substantially due to a continuing reduction in the borrowings as well as refinancing of debt at lower rates prevailing in the market today.

The company believes that it is well positioned to take advantage of the anticipated economic upturn. At the same time, it is reasonably insulated from the vagaries of the price movements of the key input raw materials for detergents, having completed the backward integration.

The work on the de-bottlenecking of the soda ash project is in full swing and may be completed by September 2002. The company has incurred an expenditure of Rs 88 crore on the project as on 30 June 2002 out of the total estimated amount of Rs 110 crore.