Balmer Lawrie announces 170 per cent dividend

Kolkata, Sep 26 (UNI) Balmer Lawrie today announced a dividend of 170 per cent, the highest ever in the history of the company, and has jacked up its net profit by 15 per cent to over Rs 1490 crore in 2007-08 from Rs 1300 crore in 2006-07.

In its AGM here, the company shareholders approved the dividend.

The profit before tax had increased from Rs 106 crore to Rs 130 crore, reflecting an increase of 23 per cent over the previous year.

Following this rising trend, the net profit increased from Rs 70.22 crore in 2006-07 to Rs 86.93 crore in 2007-08, a growth of 24 per cent.

In terms of growth, Travel&Tours, Industrial Packaging, Greases&Lubricants and Logistics Infrastructure&Services have been the main revenue drivers.

The Industrial Packaging Division, the largest manufacturer of steel drums/barrels, continued to hold its lead position in market share.

Further rationalisation and consolidation of manufacturing facilities have been planned during the current year to improve operational efficiencies and achieve reduction in costs as well as achieve higher volume of value added products with improved quality.

Whereas a second production facility was operationalised in Chennai during last year to augment production capacity to meet requirement of the peak season, during the current year a new unit at Asaoti has been commissioned to cater to the North India requirements.

During 2007-08, the Indian economy reflected a general upswing in the export-import trade and all indicators point to its accentuation in the next few years.

To capitalise on this opportunity, a concerted effort was being made to widen the client base by penetration into the private sector besides consolidating the public sector&government business.

Foreign trade has shown around 20 per cent increase in the past seven years and in turn has created a pressure on the existing port capacities.

In this light the Logistics Infrastructure SBU has decided on exploring possibilities for expanding capacities of its Container Freight Stations (CFS) in Chennai and Kolkata and opening new CFSs&ICDs in upcoming ports and upcountry locations.

Warehousing activities are also being pursued aggressively towards moving up the value chain in the logistics space.

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