Eveready Net Surges To Rs 11.87 Cr

B M Khaitan group company, Eveready Industries India, has recorded an income of Rs 1,017.92 crore for 2000-01. The income includes a profit of Rs 50.15 crore on the sale of tea estates.

The profit after taxation was at Rs 11.87 crore (Rs 8.51 crore last year) after adjustment of the profit from garden sales. The income was Rs 840.21 crore in the previous year, prior to the merger of Bishnauth Tea Company with Eveready.

Net sales from operations was higher at Rs 873.57 crore as against Rs 758.10 crore. Other income was at Rs 66.98 crore for the year ended March 31, 2001, as against Rs 7.29 crore for the previous year. The company charged depreciation at Rs 32.86 crore against Rs 23.65 crore in the previous fiscal.

The company has reported that with effect from April 1, 2000, the undertaking of the Bishnauth Tea Company has been transferred to and amalgamated with the company. The board has recommended dividend of Rs 1 per share for the year ended March 31, 2001, which would absorb Rs 1.58 crore.

The company said that despite cheap imports, the battery division maintained its volumes and increased market share, while the tea operations reported a loss of realisation of only Rs 4 per kg sold against the industry loss of Rs 11 per kg. Sale of underperforming gardens and encouraging battery and branded tea sales would lead to better results in the fiscal 2001-02, the company said.

However, no details on heads such as expenditure, interest or taxation were released by the company. The results for 2000-01 were after the merger of the Bisnauth Tea Company with Eveready, creating a company with two divisions - tea and batteries.

Aditya Khaitan and R S Jhawar, directors of Eveready, could not provide details on the debt post-merger or repayments made with proceeds from the sale of tea estates.