Water treatment player VA Tech Wabag today reported a 17% dip in net profit to Rs 46 crore for the quarter ending March this year. It had reported a net profit of Rs 55.9 crore for the same period of the previous year.
For the year ending March 31, 2011, the company's net profit soared by 17.4% to Rs 52.6 crore from Rs 44.8 crore in the same period of the previous year.
The total revenues of the company for the fourth quarter ending March 31, 2011, stood at Rs 509.9 crore, as against Rs 481.9 crore in the same period of the previous year.
For the year ending March 31, 2011, total revenues grew marginally to Rs 1,241.8 crore from Rs 1,229.5 crore in the same period of the previous year.
The company is eyeing 3-4 overseas acquisitions this year as part of its strategy to increase its presence in new geographies, a top company official said today.
The Chennai-headquartered company, which is also engaged in the engineering, procurement and construction business, currently has presence in 19 countries.
"We are in talks with 3-4 companies (for acquisitions). It will help us in entering into new geographies and also strengthening our presence," Va Tech Wabag Managing Director Rajiv Mittal told reporters here.
"We are actively pursuing three or four acquisitions. In one or two months, we will start the due diligence," he said.
He said some of the companies were from Latin America, Eastern America and North Africa. Last year, it converted its branch offices in Turkey and China into full-fledged 'subsidiaries', owing to market potential in these markets.
In addition, the company had also set up subsidiaries in the Philippines and Sri Lanka in 2010, he said.
The Sri Lanka subsidiary was set up after the company bagged a prestigious order from the National Water Supply and Drainage Board for the Greater Dambulla water supply scheme in Sri Lanka. This project is valued at Rs 360 crore, he said.
In Maynilad, Philippines, the company secured two sewage treatment plant projects valued at Rs 45 crore. "Given the opportunity in these markets, we have set up the subsidiary," he said.
On the company's future plans, Mittal said it would also ramp up its operations and maintenance (O&M) business in future.
"Our vision is to become a 1 billion euro company in the next five years. 25% of them (earnings) would be contributed by our operations and maintenance business and 75% from the EPC (vertical)," he said.
At present, Va Tech Wabag has an order book worth Rs 3,402 crore, spread over the next two years. "Of this, 72% projects are domestic while the rest are in overseas markets," he said.
The company had a few months back signed an MoU with the Gujarat government for two desalination projects valued at Rs 1,400 crore. "Our aim is to get the contract in this financial year itself," he said.