Net sales in the third quarter jumped to Rs 558.50 crore, from Rs 379.49 crore in the same period last year, with the copper business contributing Rs 303.3 crore-more than double than that in the third quarter of last year. In the nine-month period, net sales was up 55 per cent to Rs 1,559.53 crore.

Indo Gulf managing director Debu Bhattacharya said that though the interest payout was higher in the third quarter, it was not comparable with that in the same period last year. As most of the plants were not fully commissioned, interest was provided for in the fourth quarter of 1998-99.

Rise in gross profit at 48 per cent has been in line with an increase in net sales, which shot up by 47 per cent.

Bhattacharya said that copper realisations have been higher but not by a substantial amount. On the other hand, capacity utilisation at the copper smelter has been a high 104 per cent during the three-month period, while urea production had reached an all-time high at 7.91 lakh tonnes for the nine-month period.

International copper prices had been ruling at over $1,700 a tonne for most of the last quarter, against around $1,500 a tonne in the same period last year, analysts said. Bhattacharya added that he expected copper prices to improve over the next few months.

As part of the company's long-term strategy to upgrade the value chain, Indo Gulf is setting up a DAP plant and a precious metal refinery at Dahej, Gujarat.

Interest costs in the third quarter were Rs 34.56 crore, up from Rs 15.49 crore in the same period last year. Interest charges on account of the copper business were Rs 33.98 crore. For the nine months, interest payout was up 147 per cent at Rs 105.16 crore, and that for the copper division was Rs 103.35 crore.