(Repeats story issued on Monday)
(Recasts, adds quotes, details, share price)
NEW DELHI, July 21 (Reuters) - JK Paper Ltd's <JKPA.BO>
quarterly net profit fell 17 percent chiefly on higher
depreciation and interest charges from a plant, its finance
chief said on Monday.
The packaging board plant, commissioned in October, helped
grow sales by 41 percent to 2.63 billion rupees in the
April-June quarter, but brought profits down to 102.9 million
rupees, Chief Financial Officer V. Kumaraswamy told Reuters.
"Profit (from the plant) will happen once we see a
correction in pulp prices," he said.
Pulp prices are at around $790 a tonne, above the long-term
average of $500 a tonne. Kumaraswamy expected them to soften in
the next 12 months, and quoted studies which indicated they
could come down by $40-$50 a tonne.
Excluding interest, taxes and depreciation, core earnings
grew 25 percent to 503.2 million rupees in the quarter on strong
demand, a statement said.
Ahead of the results, JK Paper shares closed 3.4 percent
down at 33.10 rupees in a firm Mumbai market <.BSESN>.
PLANS
The company expects core margins to remain around 20 percent
for the year, Kumaraswamy said. Last month, Managing Director
Harsh Pati Singhania told Reuters the firm would see a 20-25
percent rise in revenue in 2008/09.
JK Paper may go ahead with plans to build a 100,000 tonne
copier paper plant in this fiscal year, investing up to 7
billion rupees in the process, Kumaraswamy said.
"We have to increase the capacity of copier paper. The
market is growing at 22 percent," he said, adding, "the margins
are good, at the top end of market."
In September, Singhania said the company would consider a
7-billion rupee expansion plan in 2008/09.
If the company went ahead with the plan, it would take two
years to build the plant, Kumaraswamy said. Funds would come
from a mix of internal accruals, equity and debt, he said.
(Reporting by C.J. Kuncheria; Editing by Harish Nambiar)
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Keywords: JKPAPER RESULTS/