Alstom Board To Consider Merger Of 3 Arms Today

The board of Alstom Power India, the flagship of the France-based Alstom in the country, is meeting tomorrow to consider amalgamating three group companies with itself.

The three firms are Alstom Transport Ltd, Alstom Systems Ltd and Alstom Power Boilers Ltd. Alstom has 16 ventures in India. Of this, Alstom Power and Alstom India are listed, while the others are closely-held.

The parent holds 50.99 per cent in Alstom Power India and 67 per cent in Alstom India. The amalgamation is, however, set to impact the parent's stake in Alstom Power, though its holdings in the three companies could not be ascertained.

 

Last year, Alstom had appointed consultancy firm KPMG to consolidate its Indian operations, which is spread across power, transmission and distribution, and transport.

The turnover of the Alstom group in India (it has been in the country for over 70 years) is close to $400 million.

Last year, another European major, ABB, had decided to merge its wholly owned subsidiaries -- ABB Instrumentation, Introl (India), ABB Lenzohm Service and ABB Analytical -- with ABB India. Following the merger, the parent's stake in ABB had increased marginally from 51 per cent to 52 per cent.

Alstom Power's operational umbrella includes the power generation units of erstwhile ASEA, English Electric, GEC, BBC (HBB), Alstom, Combustion Engineering, EVT, Stein, Flakt, ABL, GEC Alstom, and ABB Alstom Power.

The company has reported a turnover of Rs 655.52 crore for the 12 months ended December 31, 2001, up from Rs 284.43 crore for the previous year. Its net profit, too, improved from Rs 11.31 crore to Rs 19.23 crore during the period.

Alstom Power has extended its financial year by another three months. The financial year will now end on March 31, 2002.