APAR Industries (APARINDS) Q4 99/00 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY00 gross income fell ~9% to Rs 4,124.60m; net profit dropped to Rs 82.86m from Rs 175.49m amid weaker conductor sales, uneconomic Baroda operations and higher input costs.

• Modernisation and capacity projects across polymers, oils and conductors were expected to support improved second-half profitability in FY01.

Financial highlights

• Gross income was Rs 4,124.60m vs Rs 4,522.75m; sales of goods, services and recoveries were Rs 4,074.64m vs Rs 4,502.71m.

• Profit before tax was Rs 93.86m vs Rs 195.49m; profit after tax was Rs 82.86m vs Rs 175.49m.

• Profit before interest, depreciation/amortisation, tax and extraordinary expenditure was Rs 331.84m vs Rs 447.58m.

• Exchange-rate difference expense was Rs 29.04m vs Rs 7.45m; VRS expense was Rs 9.74m vs Rs 3.12m.

• Interim dividends: equity Rs 1.25/share and preference Rs 1/share; total equity dividend rate 12.5%. No final dividend recommended.

Outlook and guidance

• Ankleshwar NBR continuous-processing modernisation and captive co-generation power/steam plants were on schedule for operation from Sep/Oct 2000; lower monomer prices and scale were expected to aid competitiveness.

• Transformer-oil exports had picked up; rising special-grade oil share and Silvassa facilities were expected to improve oils profitability in H2 FY01.

• Conductor orders were gradually improving; Bahutha-only production and upgraded alloy-rod facilities were expected to improve profitability in H2 FY01.