KOLKATA: Usha Martin Ltd (UML), among the leading producers of wire ropes and speciality steels, has stepped up its dividend to 55 per cent for 2005-06 from 30 per cent in 2004-05 on the back of an increase in net profit from Rs. 40.87 crore to Rs. 64.96 crore in 2005-06.

Net sales stood at Rs. 1,235.20 crore against Rs. 1,189.87 crore.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Prashant Jhawar, Vice-Chairman, said the company's greenfield wire rope manufacturing unit in Houston (U.S.), would be ready by end-October 2006.

The 7,000 tonnes annual capacity, being set up at an investment of $5 million, was proposed to be ramped up to 12,000 tonnes and then doubled.

While this would need an additional investment of $15 million, no timeframe had been decided as yet.

Mr. Jhawar said the company had already started iron ore operations at Barajamda in Jharkhand.

It has been allotted a coal mine near Daltongunj, also in Jharkhand, operations on which, are likely to start this fiscal.

These are expected to bring substantial cost savings to the company. During the year under review, UML commissioned an 8 MW waste-based captive power plant.

Even as it continued to scout for organic and inorganic growth opportunities, the company completed its acquisition and integration of the wire and wire rope plant of the JCT group in Hoshiarpur.

The company has manufacturing facilities in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Hoshiarpur, the U.K., Thailand and the UAE.

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