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Mr Gian Carlo Cozzani, President and CEO of the Vesuvius Group (left); Mr Jean-Pierre Malherbe, Executive Vice-President and CFO and Special director of Vesuvius India Ltd (standing right); and Mr Alan Ridley, Business President, Asia Pacific, and Director of Vesuvius India Ltd, at a press conference In Kolkata on Tuesday. — Parth Sanyal

Kolkata , April 12

VESUVIUS India Ltd is working on plans to double the capacity of its continuous casting refractory plant in Kolkata at an estimated investment of Rs 40 crore (£5 million).

The company, which has completed 10 years of operations, has declared a final dividend of Rs 3.25 per share (32.5 per cent).

Along with the 10th anniversary special dividend of 10 per cent that was paid out in March 2004, the total dividend for the 2004 calendar year works out to 42.5 per cent, or Rs 4.25 per share of the face value of Rs 10 each.

Addressing a news conference after the company's annual general meeting here on Tuesday, Mr Gian Carlo Cozzani, President and CEO of the Vesuvius group, said the first phase of Vesuvius India's expansion plan, envisaging 50 per cent augmentation of the refractory manufacturing capacity, would be over by 2007. The next phase would be over by 2008. Currently, the plant in Kolkata has the capacity to manufacture 800 pieces of refractories per day.

Mr Cozzani said Vesuvius India is also looking at opportunities for acquisitions in steel and non-steel areas. He touched upon the scope for refractories in the aluminium, glass and foundry segments. He said, "The wind is blowing in the right direction and the Vesuvius Group is committed to investments in countries such as India and China."

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Biswadip Gupta, Managing Director of Vesuvius India, said land for the expansion project had been identified and the exact quantum of investment could be pegged "after we decide upon the technology that we wish to put in place."

Mr Gupta said the company had achieved a topline growth of 30 per cent in 2004 and the growth in the first quarter of 2005 was 27 per cent. He hoped the company would continue to maintain the growth rate in the current calendar year. "As such, we see no negatives in the growth target that we are planning."

In 2004, Vesivius India recorded a turnover of Rs 177.39 crore, up from Rs 136.13 crore in 2003. The profit after tax in 2004 was Rs 24.24 crore, against Rs 20.85 crore in 2003.

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