Special interim dividend from EID Parry

Chennai: It is more 'sweet' news for the shareholders of EID Parry (India) Limited. The Murugappa Group company has declared a special interim dividend of 225 per cent. The interim dividend was made possible owing to the Rs118.12 crore profit on sale of 50 per cent stake in Parryware Glamourooms Private Limited to the Spanish company Roca. (See: Roca buys into Parryware Glamourooms for €50 million)

For the quarter ended 30th June 2006, the company has posted a turnover of Rs176.16 crore. Beefed up by Rs123.76 crore other income, the company's total income during the quarter stood at Rs293.04 crore. The net profit for the quarter was Rs108.3 crore. The company's interest outgo is almost nil, thanks to the stake sale.

During the quarter, the company's sugar division crushed 10.76 lakh tonnes of cane compared to 4.90 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period of 2005-06. The overall production of sugar was 95,913 tonnes (including 1,419 tonne from raw sugar).

The average sugar realisation per tonne for the quarter improved significantly to Rs18,228 from Rs15,509 in 2005-06. According to chief financial officer, D Kumaraswamy, the company did not import any raw sugar, as the availability of domestic cane for crushing was very good. "We will be fulfilling our export obligation of 25,000 tonne sugar this year."

For its cogeneration power unit, EID Parry exported 431 lakh units to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board grid. The previous year the export was 205 lakh units in 2005-06.
 
The company's sugar refinery project collaborating with Cargill is proceeding as per plans. According to him, an international consultant has been appointed to study the basic engineering requirements. The company's cogeneration project at Pugalur and the acquisition of New Horizon Sugar Mills Limited, Pondicherry is progressing well.

While the sugar division is buoyant the company's bio products division posted a lower sales compared to the corresponding period in the previous year. However, the company expects the market to turn favourable during the months to come.