A BASF press release said that although income increased by 11 per cent over the previous year, profit before tax increased by 54 per cent compared with the previous year due to higher capacity utilisation and a significant reduction in interest costs. Depreciation and interest for the year stood at Rs 21.53 crore and Rs 12.5 crore respectively as against Rs 20.4 crore and Rs 16.7 crore respectively in the previous year.

Provision for taxation jumped to Rs 13.4 crore as against Rs 3.6 crore in the previous year. "The cash flow for the year has also shown an increase of eight per cent over the previous year. However, profit after tax for the year increased by only 11 per cent as the tax relief available on investments at Mangalore havedeclined," a release said. The company said that it's plastics, dispersions and specialty chemicals and textile chemicals business recorded significant increases in sales and profits.

Export sales of products manufactured by the company amounted to Rs 34.4 crore as against Rs 28.8 crore during the previous year.

The board had declared an interim dividend of 40 per cent on the equity shares for the financial year ended March 31, 2000. The dividend aggregated to Rs 9.66 crore.