Birla Nuvo profit up 10% on sales surge

CORPORATE SCORECARD

Aditya Birla Nuvo, a part of the Aditya Birla group, has posted an increase of 10 per cent in its net profit at Rs 62.3 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2007, compared with Rs 56.7 crore in the previous corresponding quarter. The company's net sales grew by 13 per cent to Rs 860 crore during the quarter against Rs 763 crore last year.

The growth in the quarter mainly came from higher sales in garments, carbon black and fertilisers. At the same time, de-bottlenecking and small acquisitions also helped in pushing the net profit up. The operating profit for the quarter stood at Rs 143.84 crore against Rs 132.5 crore in the previous corresponding quarter, up 8.56 per cent.

The net profit for the year ended March 31 rose to Rs 225 crore from Rs 131.28 crore, up 71.39 per cent, and net sales grew by 117.33 per cent to Rs 3,420.47 crore compared with Rs 1,573.84 crore.

The company's earnings per share (EPS) for the year stood at Rs 25.6 against Rs 21.92 in the last year.

Bharat Singh, managing director, Aditya Birla Nuvo, said, "The fertiliser sector has huge potential to grow as the country requires fertilisers." He also said that retail outlets for garments and fashion business would be more focused. Businesses such as insurance, financial services and BPOs are in infancy, the company will give all sort of support in building these businesses," he said.

The company will be spending Rs 1,090 crore in its various business with a significant chunk going into branded garments, apparel retail and BPO businesses. Out of this capex, Rs 666 crore will be spent in the current financial year while the rest will be spent in the next two years.

The BPO business will see an investment of Rs 200 crore in the next six months. Idea will invest $2 billion in the next two years.

Adesh Gupta, CFO of the company said, "The company will strengthen and expand its network in the existing circles and will have speedy rollout of services in Mumbai and Bihar circles."

On the garment retail business, the company said it was aggressive on expanding its presence. "We will be focussing on building exclusive brands outlets. Most of the investment will be in retailing so that customers can have exposure to our brands," said Vikram Rao, director, Aditya Birla Management Corporation.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the company's stock closed at Rs 1,150, up 0.48 per cent.