Sharply rising feedstock costs (rising from US$650/MT to US$800/MT) and a lower price recovery in polymers has taken a toll on the profitability of Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL). FY-11 has not been a very smooth year for HPL. Apart from prices of naphtha going up, Project Supermax failed to avail 100% capacity utilisation. Uncertainty also looms over selection of a managing director for the company.
HPL, with a debt burden of 2,500 crore, has sought a one-year moratorium on loan repayment from its lenders, and is also in active discussions with lenders, led by IDBI, to renegotiate interest rate on its loans. At present, the coupon rate on loans taken for the mother naphtha cracker plant is 10%. The coupon rate on loans taken by HPL for Project Supermax, the second phase of company's expansion plan, is around 10.5%. This is not the first time such a request has been made by HPL. The lenders had given a moratorium to HPL in 2006 for a period of three years as it was passing through a financial crisis.
HPL's outgo on debt servicing is 600 crore annually. The company has not failed to service its debt after it went through a corporate debt restructuring exercise.
HPL has recast the financial figures for FY11- profit after tax (PAT) estimates for the current year have been lowered by around 138 crore.
10-Jan-11 
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