Ennore Foundries' turnover up 12 pc

Chennai, Oct 22 (UNI) Ennore Foundries, a member of the Hinduja Group, registered a turnover of Rs 110.52 crore during the second quarter of the curent fiscal as against Rs 99.04 crore during the corresponding period last year, registering a growth of 12 per cent.

Talking to newspersons here today, company Managing Director Mahadevan said that for the first half ended September 30, the turnover was Rs 215.06 crore with a growth of 19 per cent.

For the first half, profit before tax was Rs 13.65 crore, up by 87 per cent, and profit after tax was Rs 8.77 crore as against Rs 4.65 crore during the previous corresponding period.

Speaking on the status of the Greenfield foundry at Sriperumbudur, near here, Mr Mahadevan said trial production had successfully commenced in September.

''The new state-of-the-art facility will further enhance production capabilities of Cylinder Blocks and Heads, with 40 per cent of capacity available for export markets,'' he said, adding that the pattern and tool shop and the design centre at Sriperumbudur, equipped with the latest CAD/CAM machines and related software, had become operational.

These facilities would enable the company to shorten the lead-time for new product development considerably, he said.

Mr Mahadevan said the company had also successfully completed installation of a new moulding line at Ennore for producing bigger castings, weighing up to 500 kg. ''This will enable the company to enlarge its product portfolio further,'' he claimed.

On future plans, he said the company was proceeding with plans for establishing a new facility for ductile iron and grey iron castings, including blocks and heads, and also for a low pressure 'Die Casting' line for aluminium.

''These expansion of capacity would involve a capital outlay of around Rs 300 crore,'' he said, adding that various funding options for the expansion were being explored and a decision in this regard would be taken shortly.

UNI