Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd on Friday reported a 104 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit during the third quarter ended March 31, 2004 and announced an interim dividend of 50 per cent for the fiscal ended June 2004.

The company posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 161 crore (Rs 1,610 million) as against Rs 79 crore (Rs 790 million) in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

The consolidated sales for the reporting quarter were up by 18 per cent at Rs 767 crore (Rs 7,670 million) as compared to Rs 650 crore (Rs 6,500 million) during the previous fiscal, the company said in a release.

Standalone net profit for third quarter rose by about 106 per cent at Rs 145.23 crore (Rs 1,452.3 million) as against Rs 70.63 crore (Rs 706.3 million) for the same quarter last fiscal. Turnover rose to Rs 559.10 crore (Rs 5,591 million) from Rs 472.11 crore (Rs 4,721.1 million).

Attributing the good performance to continuous cost reductions, high productivity and good prices, the company said its operating margin has gone up to 39 per cent from 31 per cent.

The board meeting has proposed to pay an interim dividend of 50 per cent for the financial year ending June 2004 on the fully diluted equity share capital of Rs 176.55 crore (Rs 1765.5 million) post conversion of the FCCB Bonds into equity shares.