Erode-based Seshasayee Paper and Boards Ltd.’s (SPB) standalone net profit for the quarter ended March has more than doubled to ₹116 crore from the year-earlier period due to increased sales volume.
During the quarter under review, revenue from operations grew by 22% to ₹573 crore. Material costs increased by 25% to ₹242 crore, while power and finance costs rose to ₹71 crore from ₹54 crore, the company said in a regulatory filing.
The board declared a final dividend of ₹6 per share to be paid by June 19.
Recently the board, accorded in-principle approval to secure environmental clearances for the ₹700 crore Mill Development Plan-IV (MDP-IV) project.
As per the plan, the expansion would augment paper annual capacity from 1,65,000 tonnes to 2,31,000 tonnes in Erode, and that of pulp capacity (wood and bagasse) by 72,000 tonnes to 2,52,000 tonnes in Tirunelveli.
The enhanced pulping capacity would help SPB in replacing costlier purchased pulp (imported pulp/ deinked pulp) and reduce the overall cost of manufacturing per tonne of paper.
Phase-I of the project is currently expected to be completed in about 30 months. The entire project cost is expected to be met out of its internal accruals, SPB said.
