Andrew Yule & Co May Post Rs 20 Crore Loss In & #39;00-01

Andrew Yule & Company Ltd, part of the Rs 770 crore Andrew Yule group, is likely to report a Rs 20 crore net loss for 2000-01, on a decreased turnover of Rs 175 crore. The company reported a Rs 199.5 crore turnover in 1999-2000.

"With the down turn in the economy all our businesses were badly hit," said Andrew Yule chairman and managing director Arindam Mukherjee.

Worried by the loss, Yule is on the look out for joint venture partners with equity participation for its engineering and environment products division, power transmission & distribution products, telecommunication, leasing & finance and lamp filaments division.

Andrew Yule could not find a suitable partner for all its divisions till date. "We are open to joint venture participation from any company with a strong background," Mukherjee said.

Meanwhile, Phoenix Yule, the steel belting division of the group performed well, it is expected that the company will declare dividends this year, says sources from the company. Phoenix Yule has already declared a 35 per cent hike in salaries following improved performance in terms of sales and margins.

Andrew Yule reported profits for three consecutive years till 1999-2000. High raw material cost coupled with a sagging economic scenario were the major reasons for the loss, Mukherjee said.

The company registered a massive Rs 20.1 crore gross loss in 1997. This was followed by three consecutive gross profit figures of Rs 3 crore in 1998, Rs 4.1 crore in 1999 and Rs 1.6 crore in 2000.

In certain cases, the cost of the raw material is higher than the product, further, increasing power tariff, poor and insufficient infrastructure and lack of level playing field in certain cases contributed to the poor performance of the company.