Bharat Electronics Profit Rises To Rs 33.46 Crore

Public sector Bharat Electronics Ltd posted a turnover of Rs 1,226 crore in 1996-1997, against Rs 1,069 crore in the previous year, an increase of 15 per cent. Over 75 per cent of the turnover was accounted for by the defence sector.

The companys profit for the year has gone up to Rs 33.46 crore from against Rs 20.70 crore in the previous year. The operating profit stood at Rs 172 crore.

Bharat Electronics recently received the approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board for its joint venture with General Electric of the United States to manufacture hi-tech X-ray tubes, CT scanning diagnostic equipment, etc.

Trial production is expected to start in two months.

The Indian partner has invested Rs 2.5 crore for 26 per cent equity in the joint venture, while General Electric has picked up the rest for about Rs 10 crore.

Bharat Electronics has also received the first stage of cabinet approval for its joint venture with Multitone of the US for local area network paging communication. The new facility is to be set up soon.

Defence-related production and supplies shored up the companys profits in 1996-97, in spite of a drastic cut in orders from the department of telecommunications (DoT), its regular customer over the years. The value of DoTs orders has dropped from Rs 140 crore in 1993-94 to Rs 25 crore in 1996-97.

Bharat Electronics chairman & managing director V K Koshy said the company had exceeded its memorandum of understanding commitment to the government by Rs six crore.

For the ninth consecutive year, it signed a new MoU with the ministry of defence, envisaging a turnover of Rs 1,410 crore for 1997-98.

The total order book position of Bharat Electronics now stands at Rs 1,800 crore, Koshy said. However, he added that 95 per cent of it was placed by the defence sector, which normally places orders in advance. Real orders from non-defence sectors could be much more, considering short-term orders for components and other materials, he said.

On the flip side, the companys Kotdwara, Taloja and Machilipatnam units which manufacture telecommunication equipment, television glass shells and optical equipment failed to break even, mainly due to non receipt of orders from the customers, Koshy said.

According to the company, the delay in the start of production of Arjun the main battle tank by the ministry of defence hit the Machilipatnam unit, which has traditionally depended on manufacturing equipment for the Vijayanta tanks, now on their way out.

We plan to shift some of our manufacturing activities from the profit-making units to the ailing ones to keep them running, the chairman said.