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NMDC Ltd posted a 34 per cent increase in net profit at ₹1,962 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, compared with ₹1,465 crore in the year-ago period.
The country's biggest mining company achieved record production and sales of iron ore during the quarter at 9.86 million tonnes (mt) and 9.4 mt, respectively.
This represented an increase of 3 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively, Narendra Kothari, CMD of NMDC, told newspersons on Friday.
For the full-year, net profit rose to ₹6,420 crore, compared with ₹6,342 crore in the year before. The turnover stood at ₹12,058 crore (₹11,369 crore). Iron ore production hit a record 30 mt, while sales were at 30.50 mt. NMDC is targeting to produce 50 mt iron ore by 2019-20.
Capex “The capex (capital expenditure) for the year under review was ₹2,518 crore. In the current financial year, it would be around ₹3,500 crore,” he said.
The proposed capex would mainly go into the ₹15,000-crore steel plant being built at Nagarnar, Chhattisgarh, and global acquisitions.
“The project is on schedule. We have finalised ₹13,500 crore orders and production will commence in October 2016,” Kothari said. With a cash balance of ₹18,000 crore, the corporation would not need to take any loans to complete the project, he added.
The Hyderabad-based company would also be diversifying gradually into coal, gold and diamond mining, among others. “For overseas assets, we are currently conducting due diligence in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Mozambique, the US, Australia and Russia,” he added.
Iron ore prices Kothari, who took over as CMD last month, said priced would be reviewed routinely every month, adding that there was no scope for a decrease in iron ore prices in the market.
When asked about the removal of a ban on iron mining in Goa by the Supreme Court recently, he said iron ore from Goa was inferior to that of NMDC’s and it would not impact the domestic prices due to preference for exports. NMDC scrip declined 0.73 per cent on the BSE on Friday to end at ₹170.20.
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