AHMEDABAD: Gujarat government owned Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (GACL) saw its net profit rise 78.18% to Rs 66.01 crore in the second quarter of the fiscal 2012-13 compared to Rs 37.06 crore in Q2 of previous fiscal, said a company statement. For the first half of the fiscal, the net profit stood at Rs 121.28 crore as compared to Rs 83.46 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Its profit before tax for Q2 stood at Rs 86.30 crore, an increase of 66.86% compared to Rs 51.72 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. Similarly, the profit before tax stood at Rs 167.32 crore, a 44.17% rise over Rs 116.06 crore in the first half of the previous fiscal.

Its net sales grew 15% to Rs 479.77 in the second quarter of the fiscal compared to Rs 417.16 crore. For the first half of the fiscal, its net sales stood at Rs 918.28 crore, a 10% rise over Rs 835.21 crore in the corresponding period of previous year.

“This is mainly due to improvement in price realizations for Caustic Soda Group, Caustic Potash Group, Phosphoric Acid, Hydrogen Peroxide, Sodium Cyanide, Poly Aluminium Chloride, Chlorinated Parafin Wax, Benzyl Chloride, Benzyl Alcohol and Stable Bleaching Powder products in particular,” the statement said.