MCFL swings to Rs 29.32 crore net loss in December quarter

NEW DELHI: Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd has reported a net loss of Rs 29.32 crore for December 2014 quarter due to sharp decline in sales following shutdown of its lone urea plant.

The company had clocked a net profit of Rs 27.95 crore in the same quarter last year.

Net sales of Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd ( MCFL) for October-December quarter of current financial year plunged to Rs 284.46 crore from Rs 840.50 crore in the same quarter last year, the company said in a BSE filing.

During the December 2014 quarter, the company's sales declined as production came down following the shut down of its lone urea plant.

Operations at the plant were suspended during most of the quarter after the government did not allow payment of subsidy on production of urea using high cost feed stock Naptha.

The plant resumed production in the first week of January after the government allowed the permission to use Naptha as feedtsock for 100 days.

Urea is a controlled commodity and its selling price is fixed at Rs 5,360 per tonne. The difference between cost of production and retail price is paid as subsidy to manufacturers.

Pune-based Deepak Fertilisers has been competing with Kolkata-based industrialist Saroj Poddar-led Zuari Group for taking control of Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers Ltd (MCFL) since July 2013.

Shares of MCFL closed at Rs 87.60 apiece, up 0.11 per cent on the BSE.