Wpil Pumps Up Sales Growth In A Watershed Year

The city-based pump manufacturer, WPIL (formerly Worthin-gton Pump) of the Williamson Magor group, recorded its highest -ever sales and profitability in 1996-97.

During the year, the company registered a sales growth of more than 30 per cent while net profit grew at a rate of nearly 107 per cent.

The company witnessed sizeable growth in almost all major business segments.

Sales of vertical pumps increased from Rs 10.8 crore the previous year to Rs 17.3 crore, recording a rise of about 60 per cent.

Spare parts and accessories sales recorded an growth of about 20 per cent over the previous year.

The overall improvement in the performance of the company was well supported by substantial growth in the sales and profitability of the Ghaziabad unit.

The value of production of the Ghaziabad unit increased nearly 60 per cent in 1996-97 over the previous year.

Operating profits of the company climbed about 23 per cent, while profit before tax leaped 135 per cent.

According to D Khaitan, chairman, this was achieved by an overall increase in production and productivity and also due to the various cost control and reduction measures undertaken during the year.

In the first half of 1997-98, the company increased sales growth. Sales turnover rose over 75 per cent, while despite an over 100 per cent increase in expenditure, profit before tax leaped 326 per cent.

Profit after tax increased over 178 per cent compared with the corresponding period of the previous year.

The company, however, saw steep competition in the export market. It witnessed a 24 per cent decline in export earnings during 1996-97.

In the current year, the company has taken certain steps to boost export earnings.

WPIL plans to forge joint ventures with Vietnam public sector units of the ministry of agriculture and rural development to capture a large share of the expanding irrigation pump market in that country.

In Vietnam multilateral funding agencies are laying stress on funding irrigation and agriculture development.

In the current year about $100 million has been earmarked for agriculture and rural development projects in Vietnam.

Of this, pump sets for large irrigation projects account for about $15 million .

According to P Bajaj, vice-chairman, WPIL, the company has bagged orders worth $1.7 million. By 2000 its export to Vietnam should touch Rs 20 crore, he said.

According to Bajaj, Vietnam was not the only country the company was looking to for business expansion.

With the recent devaluation of their currencies, other South Asian countries like Thailand, Indonesia nd Malaysia were likely to be more keen to buy from Indian manufacturers.

These nations earlier used to prefer western manufacturers even for low-technology products.

The company hopes to do well in the domestic market too in the coming years.

In view of the countrys major thrust on core sectors, i.e., - power, irrigation and water supply, WPIL hopes to have a niche market with an expanded product range and appropriate synergy.

Having achieved ISO-9001 certification for both the Panihati and Ghaziabad plants, the company is now busy consolidating its efforts to achieve future excellence in quality mission.

All these will help improve its performance during the current year.