BEML posts Rs 2600 crore turnover in 2006-07
Bangalore, Apr 2: Riding on a sales growth of 18 per cent, State owned Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) today announced a turnover of Rs 2600 crore for fiscal 2006-07 with Profit Before Tax being Rs 315 crore, up by 10 per cent.
Announcing the results for the year that just ended BEML Chairman and Managing Director V Rs Natarajan told newsmen here that the company aimed to grow 20 per cent in 2007-08 to achieve a turnover of Rs 3200 crore, including Rs 150 crore of exports.
He said with an order book of Rs 1670 crore at the end of the last fiscal and another Rs 1030 crore to materialise in a month's time, the company expected to continue its record performance.
Announcing an ambitious growth plan to double the turnover to Rs 5000 crore over the next four to five years, Mr Natarajan said that the Company aimed to hit the equity market to raise about Rs 440 crore on a book building basis offering by 4.9 million shares to expand its capital base. The Company board had approved the initiative and the Draft red herring prospectus would be submitted to SEBI soon, he added.
Mr Natarajan said nearly 35 per cent of the business of the company came through Defence procurement with mining and construction equipment (both civil and defence) contributing about Rs 1600 crore of the turnover.
Mr Natarajan said that Company's business from railways was also looking up with a total order of 475 coaches expected over the next two years. Besides, orders for 75 Electrical Multiple Units (EMU) and 50 Stainless steel EMUs were also expected from suburban services. On metro rails, he said the 10.5 per cent sales tax exemption by Karnataka Government would enable BEML to quote lowest prices for Delhi Metro for the Metro coaches. The Company would also be in an advantageous position of being present locally for similar coaches for the Bangalore Metro rail project for which Expression of Interest has been floated, he added.
He said the Kolar Gold Fields unit would be expanded to house the second railcoach making unit. For this an additional 1009 acre of land had been allocated by the State government, he added.
He said the Company's joint venture with M/s CCC of Brazil for manufacturing construction and mining equipments, would go on stream this fiscal and similarly it had tied up with Terex of the US for making high end dump trucks with weight class in the range of 120 to 360 tones. The Mysore plant of BEML would be producing these units for which BEML had an option to export with a specific agreement from Terex.
He said the company would shortly start operating its Joint Venture with a Hyderabad and Malaysian based company for taking up contract mining. The Joint venture with a Rs 100 crore equity base would vye for top mining contracts with a number of mining blocks being offered by the Government of India. BEML had a 45 per cent share in the company. Atleast two top mining contracts valued at over Rs 1000 crore each was expected to be firmed up soon and the new company hoped to bag atleast one of them, he added.
UNI