Lower margins in carbon business on account of general weakness in Aluminum industry and fall in operating performance of cement business, the company’s consolidated net profit for the first quarter ended 31^st March 2014 was down 55% (YoY) at Rs.50 crore. During Q1, the company also had a forex loss of Rs.10 crore, wherein the rupee vis-à-vis the US dollar appreciated 3% but this was offset by a stronger Euro, and sharp depreciation of about 3% in Canadian dollar and 8% fall in Russian Rubles against the Euro. The company also has a huge debt of around Rs.8000 crore and this means substantial interest outgo, which for Q1 2014 was at Rs.162 crore, up 14% YoY. For 2013, its interest outgo was at Rs.593 crore.

At the end of the quarter, its consolidated net revenue was at Rs.3084 crore, up 13% (YoY), wherein carbon product sales volume rose 10%, that of chemical sales rose 11% while cement volumes fell 12%. The net profit would have come down further but for the 67% drop in tax outgo. The effective tax rate during the current quarter is 23% a decrease of 6% compared to 29% during Q1 2013, mainly due to tax impact on environment claims offset by MAT credit reversal relating to prior periods. With the acquisition of RÜTGERS with operations in Belgium, Canada, Germany, Poland and Russia, the effective tax rate of the company would be varying from period to period. However, the long term effective tax rate of the company is expected to be in the range of 33% to 35%.