The Hindu Business Line : BOC India Q1 sales, net down

Kolkata, July 31 BOC India Ltd, now a member of the Linde Group, has posted lower turnover of Rs 106.83 crore (Rs 118.84 crore) and lower net profit of Rs 3.13 crore (Rs 28.5 crore, including Rs 24.29 crore from property sale) for the first quarter ended June.

Company sources attributed the drop in turnover to lower third-party billings of the project engineering segment.

Also, the shutdown of the 1,290-tpd Jamshedpur plant impacted business.

The interest cost in the quarter was also high.

However, the period witnessed some good wins in onsite business, notable among them being long-term supply contracts with GKN Sinter Metals of Pune and Electrosteel Castings Ltd, Khardah (West Bengal).

The company plans to continue to focus on the steel sector as a means to expand its gas business.

Currently, the steel sector accounts for 60 per cent of the company’s gas business.

Speaking to newspersons after the AGM, Mr E.R. Raj Narayan, Managing Director, said that the steel sector holds out big opportunities for the company as the country’s steel-making capacity is targeted to rise to more than 100 million tonnes (mt) by 2020, from 35 mt now.

The new projects would be mostly in the form air separation units (ASUs), to be located close to the buyers.

Some of the new projects could be located in the North, where BOC India does not have any presence.

“We are also pursuing opportunities in hydrogen gas and the industries using it,” Mr Raj Narayan said.

Earlier, Mr S.M. Dutta, the newly appointed Chairman, told shareholders that the company was mulling replacement of part of its debts by external commercial borrowing at lower interest rates.

A resolution relating to increasing the borrowing limit was approved by the shareholders.

However, the Chairman and the Managing Director did not elaborate on the ECB issue, saying that details yet to be finalised.

Much would depend on the size of investments to be undertaken in the coming days.

The investment plans would be finalised within a few weeks.

The Group, which is strong in gas and related businesses and project engineering, is examining the scope of third-country contracts, Mr Raj Narayan said.