BOC India limited, now a member of The Linde Group declared its audited financial results for the 9 months ended 31 December 2007 today. The Company had earlier taken a decision to close its financial accounts for a period of 9 months ended 31 December 2007 to align its accounting year with that of Linde AG, its ultimate holding company.

During the 9 months ended 31 December 2007, the Company clocked in a turnover of Rs.327.19 crores. BOC India had reported a turnover of Rs.496.58 crores for its preceding accounting year ended 31 March 2007 and a turnover of Rs.378.27 crores in the corresponding 9 months period in the year 2006. During the 9 months period under review, the total turnover of the Gases business segment was up about 9%, driven by strong growth in the Bulk and Healthcare businesses. The Packaged Gases and Products business recorded a modest growth on the back of increased sales of Special Gases and welding and safety products. Increased focus on in – house projects in the Project Engineering Division led to decline in its third party sales thereby resulting in lower turnover as compared to the year ago period. The decline is also due to the impact of one off billings in 2006 in connection with the plant sales to Bellary Oxygen Co. Pvt. Ltd. During the period under review, the Division has also been focused on the construction of the 1800 tpd ASU at Bellary which is scheduled to be commissioned by third quarter this year.

Profit before tax from operations for 9 month period under review year stood at Rs.24.02 crores compared to Rs.43.77 crores in the year ago period. The Company has additionally recorded an exceptional profit amounting to Rs.60.92 crores from sale of immovable property at Hyderabad. This profit is also after providing for higher depreciation and an impairment charge of Rs. 24.13 crores as compared to Rs.18.74 crores in the year ago period. The additional depreciation arises primarily from capitalisation of new PGP plants. Net profit after tax for 9 months period stood at Rs.61.66 crores as compared to Rs. 44.11 crores in the year ago period.

The Board of Directors have recommended a dividend of 20% in respect of 9 months period ended 31 December 2007 on the enhanced share capital after the allotment of 362,00,000 equity shares to The BOC Group plc on preferential basis. The dividend on an annualized basis works out to 26.7% which is marginally higher than last year though on pre-preferential share capital.

Commenting on the performance Mr. E R Raj Narayanan, Managing Director, BOC India Limited said, “After a challenging first quarter with our tonnage plant in Jamshedpur, our renewed focus on new products, new applications and market development activities, has started yielding results. The orders from SAIL for Project Engineering Division underpin the confidence that Steel Industry majors place on our cutting-edge technology. Our recent wins in a number of on-site opportunities have enabled our entry into newer segments in the customer value chain.”

Sourced From: GCI –PR Division of Grey Group

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