Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Oct 20, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Oct 20, 2005 |
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Corporate Results
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Diversified Wipro Consumer Care revenues grow 24% Our Bureau
Bangalore , Oct. 19 WIPRO Consumer Care and Lighting revenues grew 24 per cent y-o-y to Rs 143.7 crore, while PBIT stood at Rs 19.5 crore. "This growth has been in a flat market and operating margins have not been compromised but maintained at about 14 per cent, marking nine continuous quarters of growth in the 20-25 per cent range'' said its President, Mr Vineet Agrawal. At the Wipro earnings announcement here today, its Chairman, Mr Azim Premji, said the company ended the second quarter with a strong tailwind of business momentum and according to Mr Agrawal, the company expects robust growth from the Santoor brand - its largest contributor to revenues (just under 50 per cent). Wipro is planning backward integration at its soap factory in Baddi (HP). During the quarter, it has started processing fatty acids to make soap noodles for the plant and expects to further integrate backwards to include the oil to fatty acid process. "We were moving the supplies from our plant in Maharashtra, hence the backward integration initiative," he said. The company also expects to start producing Glucovita brand of biscuits from Baddi this quarter. WCCL's Commercial and Institutional lighting business, which contributes 15-16 per cent to revenues, is also growing on the back on strong demand from the software, banking and insurance sectors creating new office spaces. Wipro's recently launched furniture business has seen installations in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune, said Mr Agrawal, adding the company was also selling furniture designed by itself, that offered flexibility and suitability for Indian measurements. The company re-launched its Chandrika soap in a new packaging and reports trials by customers even as it test markets the Chandrika Amritham liquid bath in Karnataka. WCCL is also test marketing its `value engineered' Baby Soft soap having reduced its price from Rs 24 to Rs 16 "by changing packaging and taking a slight hit on margins but without changing the actual product and hope higher volumes at the lower price will drive growth," said Mr Agrawal. The test is running in Andhra Pradesh and by the end of the fiscal, the company expects to review the soap's price for the all-India market, based on the AP experience.
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