Date:20/01/2007 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/01/20/stories/2007012002270200.htm

Back BOC India posts Rs 3.7-cr net in Q3

Our Bureau

Kolkata , Jan. 19

BOC India Ltd, now a member of the Linde Group, announced its third quarter results here on Thursday. The company ended the quarter with gross sales at about Rs 125.2 crore, profit before tax and extraordinary items about Rs 5 crore and net profit at about Rs 3.77 crore.

The performance of the quarter was significantly impacted by a breakdown in the company's 1,290 tonnes per day (tpd) air separation unit (ASU) at Jamshedpur.

Plant shutdown

The plant was shutdown for a period of 20 days to undertake modifications. While the plant has now commenced operations, the company is monitoring its condition and will take a planned shutdown to rectify the situation in the forthcoming quarters.

While the Process Gas Solution segment results were impacted by the above breakdown, the company's Industrial and Special Products segment continued to grow and recorded increased revenues for the quarter, explained a company press note.

Engg unit's growth

The project engineering division maintained its momentum of growth, recording a jump of 64 per cent in gross third party sales, compared with the corresponding period in the previous year, after excluding the one-off billings to the Bellary Oxygen Company for the 855-tpd ASU. They ended the quarter with an order book, which stood at about Rs 104.23 crore, including a recent order win from Bongaigaon Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd.

The division is also in the process of constructing the company's 1,800 tpd ASU, for the supply of 3,000 tonnes of gases to JSW Steel at Bellary, its second supply scheme win from the steel major. Engineering work on the site has commenced and the plant is expected to be commissioned in 2008. The 855-tpd ASU set up by BOC for JSW, under a joint venture was commissioned earlier in 2006, and is operating smoothly.