The Hindu Business Line : Rallis net profit at Rs 25 cr; sales touch Rs 489.2 cr

RALLIS India Ltd reported a net profit of Rs 25.55 crore for the year ended March 31, 2004. Its net sales and other income from operations for the period was Rs 489.20 crore.

The company's FY04 profit includes an exceptional income of Rs 85.28 crore from the sale of assets and businesses. Further, the result includes the figures of subsidiaries, which have been merged with the company. ``To this extent, the figures are not comparable to the previous year,'' according to an official statement.

In the earlier year, Rallis had reported a net loss of Rs 77.27 crore on net sales of Rs 845.89 crore. In its consolidated operations its net loss stood at Rs 105.74 crore.

Given the losses carried forward from previous fiscal, the board has not recommended any dividend.

For the last quarter of last fiscal, Rallis had a net profit of Rs 15.09 crore on net sales and other income from operations of Rs 109.90 crore.

The decline in FY04 turnover was attributed to the disengagement from the bulk fertiliser marketing arrangement with Tata Chemicals, effective from April 1, 2003.

It was partially offset by the increase in the company's pesticide business.

``Sales value of pesticides by Rallis and its subsidiaries increased by six per cent over the previous year. Consumption of the company's pesticides in recent months has been encouraging,'' the statement said.