Haldia Petrochem expects profits of Rs 600 crore for the fiscal

14-Feb-05

Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd. (HPL) expects to report a profit after tax (PAT) of over Rs 600 crore for the year to March 31, 2005. In 2004-2005, profit before tax of Rs 950 crore is estimated. With this HPL will wipe out its accumulated loss by the first quarter of the next fiscal. Once the accumulated loss is wiped out, HPL would have completed the turnaround it began around 30 months ago. The good performance means HPL can look forward to its maiden share issue with more confidence. The much-awaited initial public offering is likely to be made in May-June this year. The company proposes to issue 30 crore shares of Rs 10 each at a premium yet to be decided. At present, Mr Chatterjee holds a 49% stake in HPL, the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation holds 37%, the Tata group 3%, and some private US investors around 9%. State-owned Indian Oil Corp is scheduled to take a 7.5% stake.