The company said net sales declined marginally by two per cent to Rs 1,021.64 crore from Rs 1,038 crore due to a lower volume of commodity semifab products.

The Indal board, which met here on Friday, recommended a final dividend of Rs 2 per ordinary share of Rs 10 each, which together with the interim dividend of Rs 2 per share made a total of Rs 4 per share for the year 1998-99.

Announcing the results, Chris Bark Jones, Indal's chairman and chief executive officer, said, ``We were able to achieve higher pre-tax profits (up by 15 per cent) at Rs 144 crore mainly through control of costs and betterrealisation on our export of alumina and semi-fab products, in spite of sluggish market conditions and falling international prices of aluminium and alumina.''

``The thrust on value-added product segments along with our cost management efforts resulted in gross profit margins increasing from 12 per cent to 14 per cent. Our efforts at more stringent cost management and other initiatives yielded savings of over Rs 25 crore,'' Jones added.

Jones said the company would focus on exports in a major way in the current year with the international marketing organisation of Alcan. ``We have also launched the full business potential programme this year to integrate all our fundamental activities,'' he said.

According to NK Chowdhary, managing director, operations, the company had a comfortable interest cover of 3:1 times and a debt equity ratio of 36:64.``With the Hirakud and Alupuram smelters operating at more than their nameplate capacity, metal procurement was to the tune of almost 53 per cent.

While 18 percent metal was procured through recycling, 17 per cent was on the basis of a tolling arrangement with Hindalco. The company had to procure only about five per cent from the open market,'' said the managing director.

The company, with the help of Alcan, went into newer markets in the last fiscal which allowed it to step up its exports of speciality chemicals by 24 per cent, in spite of a declining market, added Chowdhary. Total exports by f.o.b. value, however, fell to Rs 182.54 crore in 1998-99 from Rs 226.5 crore the previous year.

Indal has been hit hard by a tax element of Rs 13.5 crore in 1998-99, a hefty 99 per cent increase over the previous year's Rs 6.8 crore. According to chief financial officer I Banerjee, the company was unable to derive the benefits of MAT for the fiscal 1998-99. A smaller tax element would have reaped better profits for the company, he said.

The company, despite making a capital expenditure of Rs 100 crore last year, had posted a one per cent decline in its average interestcost. ``The average borrowing cost of the company was less by almost two per cent in the last fiscal. Moreover, there was a four per cent decline in the expenditure on account of various cost control measures and increased operating efficiencies,'' said Banerjee.