The Hindu Business Line : Alfa Laval draws expansion, merger plan; to pay 50% final

EXPANSION plans, good order bookings, taking over fabrication factories and merger of its subsidiary Skansen Engineering and Consultancy Company Ltd, is how the Pune-based Alfa Laval (India) Ltd has chalked out its course for the current calendar year.

Mr Satish Tandon, Managing Director, told Business Line that the company had order bookings close to Rs 137 crores till March and was estimating to wind up the current calendar year with performance similar to this in each quarter. The company has backlog orders as of March end close to Rs 230 crore.

Giving an idea of the sales turnover for the first quarter ended March 2004, Mr Tandon said that Alfa Laval had recorded sales turnover of Rs 115.88 crore, registering a growth of about 29 per cent over the corresponding period last year.

The equipment division grew by about 42 per cent and technology division about 23 per cent.

The increase in other income by about Rs 7.4 crore was mainly due to large capital gains booked in the first quarter of the current year on the investments in debt mutual funds as the yields had started dropping.

The board of directors has recommended a final dividend of 50 per cent on equity shares, making a total dividend of 250 per cent for the year ended December 2003 (including two interim dividends of 100 per cent each).

This would absorb Rs 51.21 crore including dividend tad of the distributable profit.

Mr Tandon said the company had during the last calendar year acquired a couple of fabrication units in Kolhapur in Maharashtra and had already begun this year with the acquisition of four more fabrications units in Pune.

It is also in the process of buying back the property of Tetra Laval and is planning to set up a decanter factory in its premises.

The investment that would be going into this would be close to Rs 18 crore and is likely to be completed by the end of 2006.

He noted that with the company's business in the process technology division going up, there was a need felt for having a separate engineering and supply function within this division.

Skansen Engineering is expected to be merged into Alfa Laval soon. The proposal has been before the board and a formal approval has been sought.

Looking at the export scenario, Mr Tandon said the company would be able to close its export orders for the current calendar year close to about Rs 187 crore. It has also made inroads into the Chinese market and has obtained orders worth Rs 25 crore in China.

"The company is actively pursuing its business in China but I would not want to name the field or the place. Competition is tough but we expect good orders to come through,'' he added.

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