Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) today posted a decline of 21 per cent in net profit at Rs 53.95 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2011.

The complex fertiliser manufacturer had reported a net profit of Rs 68.36 crore in the year-ago period, it said in a filing to the BSE.

The net sales of the company rose by 5 per cent to Rs 1,628.90 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal from Rs 1,548.52 crore in the same quarter last year.

RCF's expenditure in the period under review rose by 7 per cent to Rs 1,553.86 crore against Rs 1,451.75 crore in the year-ago period.

The city-headquartered company is setting up a urea plant in Ghana with a fertiliser capacity of 1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) at a cost of about Rs 4,900 crore. The plant is expected to commission by 2016-17.

The public sector undertaking (PSU) manufactures various grades of complex fertilisers at its two manufacturing units in Thal and Trombay in Maharashtra.

Shares of the company were trading at Rs 67.70 at 1430 hrs, up 0.30 per cent, from its previous close at the BSE.