Voltas Fails To Mould Jaud Into A Perfect Partner

Voltas' bid to forge a joint venture with Jaud SA of France for its ailing subsidiary Perfect Moulds has fallen through due to diverse reasons.

Perfect Moulds manufactures precision moulds for plastic injection moulding machines.

However, Voltas is continuing to seek a partner for the subsidiary and is already in negotiations with another company for a possible joint venture.

The Tata group company was associated with Jaud for almost 3 years and on a regular basis executed export orders of the French company. The export business for 2000-01 of Perfect Moulds was close to Rs 3 crore.

Voltas has been looking at restructuring its ailing subsidiaries for over three years now. Perfect Moulds is one of the key elements in the recast plan.

Voltas is also considering various other options to step up the operations and make it financially viable.

In view of better margins in plastic component business, the company is exploring opportunities to increase the volume of business from this line of business.

Perfect Moulds, a wholly owned subsidiary, recorded a turnover of Rs 8.1 crore for 2000-01 compared with Rs 6.6 crore in the previous year. It has incurred a loss of Rs 1.05 crore with almost the same amount of loss in the previous year.

....net profit up 146%

Voltas has registered a turnover of Rs 255 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2001compared with Rs 226 crore in the same corresponding period of previous year, up by 13 per cent.

Net profit grew by 146 per cent to Rs 1.77 crore against Rs 0.72 crore in the previous year.

Improved business performance, reduction in interest costs to Rs 2.59 crore from Rs 4.53 crore in the corresponding period last year and cost reduction through restructuring, have largely contributed to the rise in net profit.

The company's air-conditioning and refrigeration business has grown in total order booking value by 44 per cent.

In the cooling appliances business, the split air-conditioners segment has grown by 26 per cent and water coolers by 19 per cent. In contract manufacturing, production of refrigerators grew by 31 per cent.

...Soonawala exits board

Tata Sons non-executive vice chairman N A Soonawala has stepped down from the board of Voltas, effective from February 5.

Soonawala has been replaced by Ravi Kant, currently the executive director of Tata Engineering.