The Hindu Business Line : ABB India posts 65 pc increase in Q2 net profit

BETTER SHOW: Mr Ravi Uppal (left), Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, ABB India, and Mr K. Rajagopal, CFO, ABB, at a press conference in Bangalore on Monday. - G.R.N. Somashekar

Bangalore , July 24

Higher revenue volumes and operational efficiencies have helped power equipment maker ABB India post a 65 per cent increase in net profit during the second quarter of 2006 to Rs 72 crore.

Revenues for the quarter were Rs 989.5 crore, which was 47 per cent higher than the same quarter last year. Announcing the results for the second quarter, ABB India's Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Ravi Uppal, told presspersons that the company has recorded 23 quarters of consecutive growth so far. He said ABB had a total backlog of orders worth Rs 3,137.5 crore, which was equivalent to the nine months of revenues during 2005.

During the second quarter, power products and power systems together contributed Rs 651.40 crore towards revenues, while automation products contributed Rs 209 crore.

"We have succeeded in sustaining our growth momentum on a rising base, helped by a strong order momentum and our focus on operational efficiencies," Mr Uppal said. ABB also posted a 16 per cent increase in exports during the first half of the year to Rs 180 crore.

He said the company has been steadily building capacities at various locations and had exhausted its capital expenditure of around Rs 500 crore earmarked so far. "We are running ahead of spending. We expect new units to come up in Karnataka as well as in Maharashtra," he said. The increase in metal prices was a challenge the company had to face during the second quarter. "But forward booking has helped us take price variation costs during the quarter," he said.