Jk Corp To Pare Costs By Rs 50 Cr

JK Corp Ltd, the Singhania group company, plans to cut costs by nearly Rs 50 crore by implementing suggestions made by management consultants, Arthur Anderson & Associates.

Deputy managing director Harsh Pati Singhania said the cost-cutting measures are designed to improve financial performance which nose-dived last year with the company posting a loss of Rs 17.87 crore.

Part of the loss was due to steep interest costs which the company is trying to redress now. The company paid Rs 87.59 crore as interest during 1996-97. It is now resorting to currency swaps, and will raise foreign debt in the future to access cheaper funds, said Singhania.

 

It has expanded capacities in all four divisions - cement, paper, synthetics and magnetic tapes. Cement capacity was increased from 0.6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 2mtpa at a cost of Rs 625 crore. In the polyester division, capacity was increased from 22,000 to 38,000 tpa at a cost of Rs 140 crore.

A 1,27,000 tpa pulp mill was set up at an expenditure of Rs 346 crore.