The Hindu Business Line : Bajaj Hindusthan Q4 net rises 70 pc

Mr Kushagra Nayan Bajaj (left), Chief Executive, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd, and Mr K.K. Kumbhat, President, Finance, announcing the company's results in Mumbai on Monday. — Shashi Ashiwal

Mumbai , Dec 12

BAJAJ Hindusthan Ltd, a sugar manufacturing company, has said that its net profit for the fourth quarter ended September 2005 rose by 70 per cent to Rs 55.79 crore against Rs 32.79 crore in the year-ago period.

Net sales stood at Rs 295.68 crore against Rs 220.3 crore in the year-ago quarter.

For the year ended September 2005, Bajaj Hindusthan reported 130 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 140.4 crore (Rs 61 crore).

Total revenue increased by 65.8 per cent to Rs 900.1 crore (Rs 543 crore). Higher volumes and better prices helped the company's performance.

Sugar sales by volumes grew by 43.4 per cent to touch 4,57,988 tonnes and industrial alcohol volumes by 18.3 per cent to 25,939 kilolitres.

The board of the company has recommended a dividend of 50 per cent or 50 paise a share.

The company has decided to expand its industrial alcohol manufacturing capacity further from 320 kilolitres a day to 800 kilolitres by setting up three new distilleries with aggregate capacity of 480 kilolitres at an estimated project cost of Rs 240 crore.

The company is in the process of scaling up its capacity in sugar production and is engaged in projects in the Saharanpur, Pilibhit, and Lakhimpur regions of Uttar Pradesh. These plants are scheduled to commence operations in October 2006.

Capacity enhancement at existing locations will increase the company's sugar production to close to two million tonnes a year.

In its performance guidance for the next year, the company expects to crush 8.5 million tonnes of cane compared to 4.30 million tonnes in 2004-05. Recovery would be higher at 10.12 per cent. The turnover is projected to increase by 92 per cent to Rs 1,725 crore, according to Mr Kushagra Nayan Bajaj, CEO.

This projected turnover does not include the Pratapur acquisition, he added.

The company's scrip moved up by Rs 2.30 to Rs 237.4 on the BSE on Monday.

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