NEW DELHI, July 23: JK Corp Ltd on Wednesday announced a Rs 17.87 crore loss despite a 8.5 per cent rise in turnover to Rs 775.90 crore for the year ended March, 1997. The company had a net profit of Rs 51.57 crore in the previous year.The dividend has been slashed to 10 per cent from 30 per cent in 1995-96 on an equity base of Rs 46.33 crore.Chairman Hari Shankar Singhania said after a board meeting that low price realisation in paper and cement businesses and a sharp rise in interest cost, from Rs 58.53 crore to Rs 87.59 crore, were responsible for the poor financial performance.The first three months of 1997-98 have also not been good. "The growth rate is very slow in the current year so far but we hope things will improve in the second half of the year," Singhania said in reply to a question.The profit before depreciation, interest and tax (PBDIT) fell to Rs 108 crore in 1996-97 from Rs 136 crore in the previous year. Sales volume in cement rose by 35 per cent in volume, polyester by 28 per cent and magnetic tape by 29 per cent. "This year's financial results reflect the downturn in the economy," Singhania said. The company management is confident of improving its performance in the next two years mainly due to improvement in efficiency and capacity expansion after investment of Rs 1100 crore during the last four years. "The future of JK Corp is bright," Singhania remarked.Harshpati Singhania, director of the company, said that cost cutting measures taken up in 1996-97 would result in a saving of Rs 45-50 crore in 1997-98. The company saved over Rs 12 crore due to these measures in 1996-97.The company is focussing on manpower rationalisation, which includes a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), and working capital management. Singhania said that strategy was also being evolved to restructure the debt portfolio of the company which would help in reducing interest burden.
