Putting behind the initial setback due to its auditor Deloitte’s sudden resignation in May, Manpasand Beverages Ltd has planned an ambitious expansion plan and make fresh investments to the tune of ₹1,500 crore in the next couple of years.

“Our 10-year agreement with Parle-G would increase our reach from the existing six lakh outlets to 66 lakh outlets. We now plan to double our production capacity to four lakh boxes per day (each carrying 24 pieces) by setting up new plants,” Dhirendra Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, Manpasand Beverages, told reporters here.

The firm currently has six plants—three in Vadodara and one each in Ambala, Varanasi and Dehradun. The three new plants will come up at Varanasi, Sri City and Bhubaneswar, he said.

The Vadodara-based fruit beverage company has so far invested nearly ₹600 crore on these plants. Its fresh investments will be on the plants to be set up in key states at an investment of ₹150 crore each and mega-plants that are planned at Vadodara, Varanasi and Sri City (Andhra Pradesh).

Singh said the zero-debt company has recently appointed New Delhi-based Mehra, Goel & Company as the new auditors.

Asked about the sudden departure of its auditors Deloitte, Haskins & Sells India after eight years of association, he said it still remains inexplicable to him. On May 23, the auditing firm informed the stock exchanges about the company’s board meeting for finalizing the annual financial results and just a few days later it resigned. It might have been under pressure of the global cola majors or due to the Government of India tightening screws on the corporate world.

Singh also said that Deloitte could not explain the reason for resignation, except claiming that it did not get the required information from the company. “Even in their communication to the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), they wrote ‘nil’ as the reason for resignation,” he said.

Admitting huge loss in stock prices, sales and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) due to this sudden development, Singh said the company has resumed its normal functioning now. “Our focus is to reach out to over six million outlets across India, mostly in the semi-urban and rural areas.”

Meanwhile, the company posted a marginal 1.29 per cent growth in net profit for the first quarter of 2018-19, ended June 30, compared to the corresponding quarter last fiscal. Its net profit was ₹36.38 crore (₹35.91 crore). Revenues in Q1FY19 stood at ₹340.07 crore (₹311.30 crore), an increase of 9.24 per cent.

Going forward, Singh said, the company is expecting a 30 per cent annual growth that would help Manpasand Beverages cross the ₹1,000 crore turnover mark in FY19.

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