Margins Improve

The company, through export incentives on accrual basis, showed a smart increase in sales and profits during the six months ended September 1996. Net sales income grew by 78 per cent to Rs 87.41 crore. The improvement in capacity utilisation and the price stabilisation in EC grade aluminium - the basic raw material to manufacture electrical cables and wires, helped the company to improve the margins at gross levels. GPM during the period increased to 4.3 per cent from 3.1 per cent. The effect of volume and margins resulted in substantial increase in gross and net profit. Gross profit shot up by 148 per cent to Rs 3.77 crore. Net profit also moved up smartly by 186 per cent to Rs 3.32 crore. The company, with a sound order book position, expected a further improvement in capacity utilisation. With the passing of the test for ACSR conductors for 800 KV transmission line by the international laboratory at Paris, it hopes for better demand in the future. The demand for medium voltage XLPE cables has also been increasing. The company has received an order from NTPC and Nuclear Power Corporation of India. Indian Aluminium Cables has a small equity base of Rs 1.44 crore. The earning per share for the 12 months ended September 1996 works out to Rs 32.20. The company