UltraTech Cement Ltd, an Aditya Birla Group company, on Friday announced a marginal growth of 2% in its net profit to Rs 265 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2008 against Rs 259 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The company’s net sales for the period grew 10% to Rs 1,496 crore as compared to Rs 1,360 crore in Q1FY07. Domestic cement sales volume at 3.81 mmt registered a growth of 4% against 3.67 mmt last year.

“The increase in the coal prices from $78 pmt to $179 Y-o-Y has resulted in variable cost increase going up by 19%. The company’s performance for the first quarter has been impacted by the export ban for six weeks as the company is the largest exporter of clinker,” said Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of UltraTech, addressing the 8th AGM of the company.

UltraTech shares on Friday were up 3.79% to close at Rs 539.85 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Birla further announced that the board has approved a capex of Rs 1,000 crore of which Rs 250 crore will be for instituting waste heat recovery system of 25 MW across units of the company for generating power and the balance will be invested in additional RMC plants, extension of jetty in Gujarat, new port terminal and in other schemes.

Cipla Q1 net up

Cipla Ltd has posted a net profit of Rs 140 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2008 as compared to Rs 119.7 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2007. Total income has increased from Rs 911.8 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2007 to Rs 1,224 crore. The board has recommended payment of dividend of Rs 2 per equity share for the financial year 2007-08 amounting to Rs 156.46 crore.The company has posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 701 crore for the year ended March 31, 2008. Total income stood at Rs 4349 crore.

Gujarat NRE Coke to pay 25%

The Board of Directors of Gujarat NRE Coke on Friday posted an impressive result for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, in the board meeting. The company’s net sales/income from operations went up to 377.64 crore as against Rs 148. 89 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Buoyed by the steady, all round growth in the performance of the company, the Board recommended a dividend of 25 % which entails a distribution of Rs 97 crores in absolute terms as against Rs 45 crores in the last year. The earning before interest, depreciation and tax (EBIDTA) also increased remarkably, going up from Rs 62.68 crores to Rs 130.96 crores.

“This has been the highest quarterly turnover and earnings achieved by the company since inception” said Arun Kumar Jagatramka, vice-chairman and managing director of Gujarat NRe Coke Limited. The company has also recommended a bonus issue in the ratio of two equity shares for every five shares held on date.

The company has already installed 30 MW wind power unit in the last one year and is further installing an additional 30 MW unit by September 2008 taking the total wind power capacity of the company to 87.5 MW. Gujarat NRE Coke is also in the process of installing waste heat recovery power plants with an aggregate capacity of 60 MW across all its coke plants at a total project cost of Rs 300 crores.

Apollo Tyres net at Rs 58.66 cr

Leading Indian tyre manufacturer, Apollo Tyres Ltd, on Friday posted a 7.3% jump in net profit at Rs 58.66 crore in the first quarter ended June 30 as against Rs 54.6 crore during the same period last year. The company’s consolidated revenue grew 15% to Rs 1,320 crore as compared to 1,150 crore in the fist quarter of 2007-08. Shareholders of Apollo Tyres have approved the annual dividend payout of 50% per share for the year ended March 31, 2008. While the company’s standalone net profit for India operations grew by 4% to Rs 48.6 crore during the first quarter, against Rs 46.7 crore, its standalone revenue went up by 23 to Rs 1,070 crore from Rs 870 crore during the first quarter of 2007-08.

GE Shipping net dips

Great Eastern Shipping Company Ltd (GE Shipping) on Friday posted a net profit of Rs 387.59 crore, a dip of 8% as for the quarter ended June 30 as compared to Rs 421.04 crore in the corresponding quarter the previous fiscal. The company which provides shipping and offshore services worldwide announced a growth of 33% in its sales at Rs 986 crore as against 743.33 crore. The company said the net profit for the quarter included a charge of Rs.138.57 crore, compared with a gain of Rs.115.37 crore.

Sona Koyo revenue up

Sona Koyo Steering Systems, India’s largest manufacturer and supplier of steering systems in collaboration with JTEKT Corporation of Japan, registered a 9% increase in revenue in the first quarter ended June 30 at Rs 201.1 crore as compared to Rs 185.3 crore during the first quarter of the last fiscal.