Blue Star bags Rs 12-crore Microsoft order

Blue Star Limited has bagged a Rs 12-crore order for air conditioning the research and development (R&D) facility of Microsoft at Hyderabad.

A release from Blue Star said that the order from Microsoft has come in the wake of a string of orders that the company has bagged in south India.

For the six months period ended June 30, 2004, central air-conditioning sales of the company in the south registered an increase of 111 per cent to Rs 114 crore as compared to the market growth of around 48 per cent.

The company registered a growth of over 300 per cent during the same period with orders worth over Rs 36 crore as compared to Rs 12 crore earned during the same period last year in Hyderabad.

The company's central air conditioning business across the country registered a growth of 52 per cent as compared to the 30 per cent growth seen in the market for the six months ended June 30.

The total income of Blue Star for the financial year ended March 31, 2004, was Rs 716.06 crore with a net profit of Rs 32.55 crore resulting in an earnings per share of Rs 18.10. The company's reserves stood at Rs 112 crore on an equity capital base of Rs 18 crore.

The order from Microsoft for the first phase involves installation of four 300 TR York air-cooled screw chillers and three 35 TR York air-cooled scroll chillers along with other equipment along with the external and internal work including electricals and insulations.