Apollo Tyres Q1 net profit rises 27% to Rs 290.59 crore

Leading tyre manufacturer Apollo Tyres today reported 27.48 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 290.59 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2015.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 227.94 crore in the April-June quarter of the last fiscal, Apollo Tyres said in a BSE filing.
However, the company' total income from operations, on a consolidated basis, declined 12.05 per cent during the quarter under review to Rs 2,845.35 crore as against Rs 3,235.53 crore of same quarter last fiscal.
Apollo Tyres' revenue from Indian market in the first quarter of FY16 declined 7.43 per cent to Rs 2,155.01 crore as against Rs 2,328.22 crore of the same period previous fiscal.

Revenue from its European market also declined 12.01 per cent to Rs 770.69 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 875.93 crore of the same period last fiscal.
Commenting on the results, Apollo Tyres' Chairman O S Kanwar said: "In a slow-growth market across geographies, further marred by unregulated imports of tyres in India, we have planned and invested to capitalise on future opportunities. This strategic planning will reduce our dependence on a particular market for growth and help us expand our global footprint".

Meanwhile, in a separate filing, the company informed that its board, in a meeting held today, has approved a capex of Rs 1,200 crore for "further expansion of the truck and bus radial tyre capacity at the Chennai plant from the currently planned 8900 tyres per day to 12,000 tyres per day".

The board of the company has approved raising debt of Rs 2,000 crore and capex required for its Chennai and Kalamassery plants.
"In order to meet capex requirements towards ongoing/ proposed expansions at Chennai and Kalamassery plants, the board approved authorisation for raising of debt of Rs 2,000 crore by way of rupee term loan/ foreign currency term loan/ ECBs/ non-convertible debentures etc from time to time," the filing said.
It has also sought shareholders authorisation "for private placement of unsecured/ secured non convertible debentures not exceeding Rs 1,000 crore within overall borrowing limits of the company for capex requirements".

The board has also given nod to change the status of Sunam Sarkar from whole-time director to non executive non independent director with immediate effect consequent to his deputation to its wholly owned subsidiary at Singapore.
Besides, it has approved appointment of former Army chief General Bikram Singh as an additional director of the company.
Apollo Tyres shares closed 12.68 per cent down at Rs 182.50 apiece on the BSE.