Widia (India) Limited has reported a profit before tax of Rs 4.8 crore for the quarter ended 31 March 2003 as against a loss of Rs 2.7 crore in the corresponding period last year. The company achieved a sales growth of 42 per cent with net sales of Rs 50 crore for the quarter, when compared to Rs 35 crore in the corresponding period last year.
It may be noted that after Kennametal, a leading company in global metal working and manufacturing solutions for auto, auto ancillary, defence and aerospace industries, acquired Widia in early 2002. They extended the full year operations to an 18-month period, ending June 2003.
From July 2003, they will begin their new full year accounting period between July-June (12-month period). Hence, the full year's net profit and revenues will be out only during June, which would be for an 18-month period. Widia has been operating in India for the last three decades and has four strategic business units - machine tools, mining and construction tools, metal forming tools and metal cutting tools.
The company has two manufacturing facilities in India at Bangalore and Hyderabad. It currently has 1,305 employees on its rolls across the two manufacturing plants and nine sales offices. Kennametal-Widia is the integrated brand name for all future product offerings from the Indian company.