The Hindu Business Line : Visaka Ind Q2 net up 29 pc

Visaka Industries Ltd (VIL), the Hyderabad-based Rs 300-crore building products, synthetic blended yarn and garments manufacturer, has reported a growth of 26.97 per cent in net sales and 29 per cent in net profit for the second quarter of current fiscal ended September 2006.

As per the unaudited financial results taken on record by the board here on Tuesday, the company posted net sales of Rs 86.08 crore (Rs 67.79 crore) and a net profit of Rs 7.26 crore (Rs 5.63 crore). This translates into an EPS of Rs 6.61 (Rs 5.19) on marginally expanded equity base of Rs 10.97 crore (Rs 10.67 crore).

For the first half of current fiscal, the company reported a growth of 38.4 per cent in net sales at Rs 201.66 crore (Rs 145.71 crore), and 72.71 per cent increase in the net profit at Rs 16.45 crore (Rs 9.52 crore).

Addressing newspersons here, the VIL Managing Director, Dr G. Vivekanand, attributed the improved performance mainly to the strategic shift in yarn division from grey yarn production to dyed yarn that ensured high margins. Further, the asbestos cement division recorded a growth of 39 per cent during the first half of the current fiscal as against the industry average growth of 15 per cent, he said.

The garments division, which suffered a net loss during the quarter under review, is expected to achieve break-even during the current quarter and start posting profits from the next quarter onwards, he said.

Building Boards project

The company has decided to set up a facility to manufacture reinforced building boards with a capacity of 50,000 tonnes per annum. The project, to come up near Vijayawada, is estimated to cost around Rs 40 crore and go operational during the last quarter of next year.