The Hindu Business Line : Finolex Cables sales up 53 pc

FINOLEX Cables has registered a 53 per cent growth in sales for the second quarter ended September 4 at Rs 159.4 crore as compared to Rs 104.3 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

For the Pune-based company, electrical cables business witnessed a 38 per cent growth while communication cables recorded a 104 per cent jump in business.

According to Mr Deepak K. Chhabria, Managing Director, Finolex Cables Ltd, during the quarter, volatility was witnessed in the copper prices, contrary to market expectations.

Finolex however could contain the cost impact due to improved operational performance, he said.

The profitability (before taxation) at Rs 7.3 crore was lower against Rs 9.4 crore of the previous year's corresponding quarter mainly due to reduced other income. He noted that Finolex has developed CAT 6 Cable with Zero Halogen Low Smoke (ZHLS) type of jacket for use in critical, high-safety areas for protecting data, equipment and personnel from fire hazards.

It has also developed Screened LAN CAT 5 E cable, which has potential in the export market.

This cable is preferred in the West for transmission of voice and data signals wherein the magnetic interference is minimised due to screening.

As for Optical Fibre Project, he said the arbitration proceedings between Finolex and the supplier of the equipment had come to an end.

The company has commissioned Optical Fibre Draw Towers.

He added that on business consolidation, Finolex has decided to drop the second phase of Optical Fibre Project; thus additional investment into the project is no longer required.