Tata Chemicals has reported a 35 per cent increase in consolidate net profits for third quarter, on account of efficient operations and higher realisations.

Income from operations has also increased by 32 per cent.

On a standalone basis, the company has clocked 15 per cent profit at Rs 153 crore (Rs 132 crore), while its net sales increased 32 per cent at Rs 2,331 crore (Rs 1,754)

Input cost pressure

Mr P.K. Ghose, Executive Director and CFO of Tata Chemicals, addressing the media after the results said that demand across major products is stable. However, going forward the company expects rising input costs to add pressure on margins and lower demand for products like soda ash, he said.

Mr R. Mukundan, Managing Director, said that globally, China is one of the largest consumers of soda ash but the demand there is now slowing down. Demand in markets like UK is good, while it is stable in US markets and some areas parts of Africa, he said.

During the quarter under review, the company completed the 100,000 tonne expansion of natural soda ash facility in North America as well as the de-bottlenecking single super phosphate capacity at Haldia. Both these operations are expected to achieve stability in the current quarter, Mr Mukundan said.

Mr Ghose said that there is improvement in profitability of customised fertiliser on account of steady rise in volumes and firm pricing. Specialty fertiliser has registered a healthy volume growth and the company has plans to aggressively grow this business, he said.

The company's shares on BSE were up 1.58 per cent at Rs 356.75 on Friday.

>rahulw@thehindu.co.in

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