Net profit increased marginally to Rs 160.80 crore from Rs 156.67 crore last year, although cash profit shot up 24 per cent from Rs 194.43 crore to Rs 241.70 crore during the period. Earnings before interest, depreciation and tax increased by 55 per cent to Rs 325.60 crore as against 209.65 crore last year.

The board which met in Mumbai on Tuesday recommended an increased dividend of 100 per cent (Rs 10 per share) which will involve a total payout of Rs 50.31 crore. Sterlite had paid 85 per cent dividend last year.

At the BSE, Sterlite scrip closed at Rs 359 after opening at a higher level of Rs 365 per share.

Interest charges increased sharply from Rs 15.22 crore to Rs 83.90 crore, while provision for depreciation shot up from Rs 36.69 crore to Rs 79.75 crore during the period.

"Significantly higher depreciation and interest charges were on account of the full year impact of the capitalisation of the company's copper smelter plant," Sterlite said in a release.

Income from operations shot up from Rs 1402.11 crore to Rs 2,034.74 crore, while other income moved up from Rs 26.12 crore to Rs 33.84 crore during the period.

The sharp increase in turnover was driven by a 227 per cent increase in volumes at the copper division despite a 33-day closure, and a 164 per cent volume growth in the optical fibre business. The company, during the year, sold 3.5 lakh kilometers of optical fibres compared with 1.33 lakh kilometer in the previous year.

INSIGHT:

Future looks better

Higher interest and depreciation charges resulted in stagnant bottomline growth. But this should not be a worrying factor. First, the company has already redeemed loans of around Rs 400 crore. This would reduce interest liability of Rs 14 crore in the current fiscal. Second, the rise in volumes of JFTC, copper would maintain the present EBIDT growth of 55 per cent. Along with savings in interest, margins from higher volume sales would be directly reflected in the bottomline, which would further enhance the valuations of the company.

-- Manish Saxena