Hindustan Copper board recommends 20% dividend

KOLKATA: The board of directors of Hindustan Copper have recommended a dividend of 20%.

On an equity base of Rs 462.61 crore, this amounts to a dividend payout of Rs 92.52 crore. Taking into account the dividend tax, this would involve a payment of Rs 107.71 crore for the company.

The dvidend payout comes after HCL reported a 55% jump in profit before tax in 2010-11 to Rs 335 crore on the back of a 12% improvement in metal production and 28% rise prices. For the country’s only integrated copper producer, the price was about $8,139 a tonne, compared to $6,101 in 2009-10. To raise its ore production nearly four times to 12 million tonnes, HCL has lined up a Rs 3,677-crore plan for expansion and development of captive mines.

Of this, the Malanjkhand mine in Madhya Pradesh will account for the single largest chunk of investment, of Rs 2020 crore. Other mines being expanded include Surda, Rakkha and Chapri-Sideshwari in Jharkhand.