The loss would have been much higher but for a whopping 142.37 per cent rise in other income arising from the sale of its office floor to the Industrial Finance & Leasing Services (IL&FS) for Rs 11 crore. Other income was at Rs 14.32 crore, against Rs 5.90 crore.

Hit hard by lack of adequate working capital, the company's net sales dropped by 30.89 per cent to Rs 187.68 crore from Rs 271.61 crore, according to the unaudited results released by the company. The company has not been able to achieve full production capacity, a company release said.

Interest was at Rs 25.55 crore, against Rs 27.53 crore. Expenditure fell to Rs 192.52 crore, against Rs 255.64 crore. Depreciation stood at Rs 13.02 crore, against Rs14.19 crore. The company's paid-up equity share capital stood at Rs 40.47 crore, against Rs 31.73 Crore. Reserves & surplus was at Rs 52.77 crore. The company has paid an excise duty amounting to Rs 45.05 crore.

Insight -- industrial slowdown, outstanding debt hit company

Baroda Rayon's losses have more than doubled in 1997-98. The company's performance has not only been affected by the industrial slowdown but also by its huge outstanding debt. Although the company managed to achieve an earnings before interest depreciation and tax (EBIDT) of Rs 9.47 crore, the interest outgo of Rs 25.56 crore led to a cash loss of Rs 16.08 crore.

Baroda Rayon's polyester and VFY units have not been performing satisfactorily for quite some time. Though the company had evinced interest in selling off these units to repay some of its debt, talks with prospective buyers had broken down following disagreements regarding price.

The nylon tyre cord unit has also been adversely affected due to low offtake from theautomobile industry which has been facing a downturn. The scrip has fallen from a high of Rs 14 per share to a 52-week low of Rs 7 in the past two months.