Kesoram Industries buys back two units

Basant Kumar Birla flagship, Kesoram Industries, has bought back its heavy chemicals and spun pipes businesses that it sold in 2015-16. The businesses have been bought back for around Rs 400 crore from Camden Industries. 

“It was sold for around the same consideration. We bought it back because we were rethinking about our industrial footprint in the eastern region,” Tridib Kumar Das, whole-time director and chief financial officer said, on the sidelines of the company’s annual general meeting.

The company was, however, yet to decide what it would do with the two units, whether it would continue with the existing line of businesses or venture into some other.

However, Das said that Kesoram’s main line of businesses would continue to be tyre, cement and rayon. 

In tyre, Kesoram is now focusing on customer-centric products. Tyre has been a drag on the company’s bottom line; in FY17, the company had revenues of Rs 4,209 crore and a net loss of Rs 124 crore. In 2015, Kesoram sold its shareholding in subsidiary, Cavendish Industries, to the JK Tyre group.

Das, however, said that the company was committed to the tyre business and not looking at inducting a strategic investor. Kesoram has a tyre manufacturing facility in Balasore, Odisha.

As far as cement was concerned, Kesoram believed that if infrastructure growth was to take place in the country then the cement demand would take off. 

To strengthen backward integration and raise long-term resource security, Kesoram plans to invest in enhancing limestone availability.