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Our Bureau

New Delhi, Oct. 25 Driven by the firm demand for paper, Ballarpur Industries Ltd (BILT) has reported a 18.47 per cent increase in the net profit on a standalone basis for the first quarter ended September 30, 2007.

The company’s net profit for the quarter was at Rs 69.02 crore as against Rs 58.26 crore in the corresponding previous quarter. On a consolidated basis, BILT’s net profit increased 24.88 per cent to Rs 73.07 crore as compared to Rs 58.51 crore in the first quarter of the previous fiscal.

According to Mr B. Hariharan, Group Finance Director, Ballarpur Industries Ltd, “The current quarter’s results continue to reflect a firm demand for paper. The ongoing positive economic trends and a positive industry cycle are key factors for strengthening our optimistic outlook in the forthcoming quarters. Better price realisation was also a reason for the increase in the top as well as bottom line of the company.”

The net sales on a standalone basis for the quarter rose 5.86 per cent to Rs 611.39 crore as against Rs 577.52 crore in the corresponding previous quarter. On a consolidated basis, the net sales registered a growth of 22.96 per cent to Rs 713.56 crore as compared to Rs 580.3 crore in the first quarter of the last financial year.

The company expects a 3-4 per cent quarter-on-quarter rise in revenues in the remaining quarters of the current financial year and on a year-on-year basis expects a 7-8 per cent growth.

The company is also increasing its focus on the retail operations, which currently contribute only 2-3 per cent to the total sales. “Retail is a very important focus area; in next three years we expect 10 per cent of sales to come from retail operations and we are considering setting up own stores, plans for which will be announced by June 2008,” Mr Hariharan said.

BILT is also expanding its production capacity in both coated and non-coated paper, to take its current capacity of 4,60,000 tonnes to around one million tonnes by 2009-10.

With the increase in overall capacity, the company expects to double its turnover by 2009-10.

The consolidated results for the quarter include the results of Sabah Forest Industries, Malaysia which was acquired by BILT earlier this year. “During the current fiscal about $140 million is expected to come from Sabah,” he added.

The company’s stock rose 1.05 per cent on Thursday to end the day at Rs 139.1 per share.

The company is also considering an increase of between Rs 750 and Rs 1,000 per tonne on uncoated paper but expects the price of coated paper to be stable in the short-term.

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