Century Enka plodded higher on Thursday as net profit growth was awe-inspiring, at 136%.

The scrip of the diversified major jumped 3.3% to Rs 90.50 in response. It had reached a high of Rs 93 earlier. Around 49,600 Century Enka shares were traded on BSE in just one hour of trading.

Century Enka found strength over recent sessions on upbeat Q3 expectations. From Rs 83.45 on 24 January 2003, the scrip advanced 4.9% in three trading sessions to Rs 87.55 on 29 January 2003.

For Q3 ended 31 December 2002, Century Enka posted a resounding net profit growth of 136% to Rs 17.40 crore. Net sales careened up 16% to Rs 201.13 crore (Rs 2.01 billion) from Rs 172.79 crore (Rs 1.72 billion). The profit before interest depreciation and tax went up 30.4% to Rs 34.63 crore.

The company manufactures nylon yarn, polyester yarn, nylon tyre yarn and engineering plastics at Bhosari, Pune. It has texturising facilities and twisting machines at Mahad, Raigad district. Its products are used by the tyre and belt industries, and are also used in plastics and engineering products.

For the industrial yarn / fabric segment, the company embarked upon a modernisation project for upgrading its conversion facilities to reduce conversion cost, improve product acceptability and quality.

Incorporated in November 1965, Century Enka was promoted by the B K Birla group in technical and financial collaboration with Enka International, the Netherlands (belonging to the Akzo group). It became public in 1967. Enka International holds a 36.64% stake in the company.

It might be recalled that Century Enka, some time ago, sold its entire shareholding in Centak Chemicals to the co-promoter, Akzo Nobel Chemicals International BV, at a price of Rs 200 per share.