Radico Khaitan (RADICO) Q4 1998 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Sales and other income rose 34.01% YoY to Rs 214.35 crore; profit after tax increased 9.74% to Rs 6.04 crore.

• Full distillery capacity utilisation, branded-product launches and five bottling tie-ups supported growth; plans focused on power savings and expanded alcohol and ENA capacity.

Financial highlights

• Gross profit before depreciation and tax was Rs 8.06 crore; profit before tax was Rs 6.64 crore.

• Proposed equity dividend of 10%, or Re 1 per fully paid share, versus Rs 0.60 per share in 1997.

• Profit and appropriation included a prior-period/extraordinary charge of Rs 55.90 lakh and a debenture redemption reserve write-back of Rs 68.83 lakh.

Outlook and guidance

• Financial closure for the Rampur co-generation plant was expected to enable substantial power-cost savings and self-sufficiency in power supply.

• Capacity expansion efforts were underway for alcohol and ENA plants; bottling tie-ups were expected to expand to serve demand closer to consumption centres.

• Strong consumer response to new and existing brands encouraged intensified marketing during 1999.