Blue Bird, India FY07 revenues touch all time high of Rs 455cr

Pune, June 29, 2007: Blue Bird India Limited (BBIL), a leading player in the Indian print industry and provider of world class notebooks, office stationery and print publications announced an all time high revenue of Rs. 454.92 crore for the year ended March 31, 2007 up by 13.25% from Rs. 401.69 crore. Net Profit was registered at Rs 26.94 crore as against Rs. 25.11 crore a jump of 7.28% over the previous year.

The total revenue was spurred by an impressive growth in the publication and printing division. The revenue of the publication division was Rs 76.99 crore in FY2007 as compared to Rs 24.23 crore in the previous year recording a jump of 217.74% whereas the printing division recorded an increase of 126.47% from Rs. 15.79 crore in FY06 to Rs. 35.76 crore for the year ended March 31, 2007. Significant growth in the publication and printing has led to an increase in Blue Bird India's topline. Of the nearly Rs.750 crore note books market catered to by the large organized players, nearly 50% of this market share is with Blue Bird which garners an income of Rs.335 crores from its note books and related stationary sales.

Mr. Nitin Sontakke, Chairman & Managing Director, Blue Bird India Ltd. said, "Blue Bird India is growing at a good space since the last 3 years and it is the fastest growing stationary company in India today. Besides ensuring its leader status in the exercise/note books business, the company has embarked on developing its exports business as well. The company has already carved a niche for itself in the African markets by printing school text books and other school stationary.

Mr. Sontakke further added that, "We have made the right moves to increase our market share through expansion of our manufacturing facility, better revenue mix and increase in range of our products. Our capacity expansion at Bangalore is on course. Production through ultra modern machinery, timely delivery, variety of products and support through wide spread marketing network has made us an industry giant. We are the category leaders in the organized sector."

BBIL's total income at Rs. 111.31 crores for the fourth quarter ended on March 31, 2007 was up 8.62% compared to Rs 102.47 crores in the corresponding quarter of the last year. There has been significant growth in the publication and printing business in the fourth quarter. The revenue of the publication division was Rs 29.63 crore as compared to Rs 5.03 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year recording a jump of 489% whereas the printing division recorded an increase of 101.38% from Rs. 4.34 crore in Q4FY06 to Rs. 8.74 crore for Q4FY07.

To further strengthen its position in the Indian note books market, the company has put in place a three-pronged strategy to quickly ramp up sales of Blue Bird branded note books and garner a larger share of the market. While the company is outsourcing capacity to assemble high quality notebook components manufactured by it with smaller players, it has entered into producing and marketing co-branded products in association with strong local brands developed by unorganized players in small niche markets. Besides this, the company is expanding its own channel network. Presently the company has over 9000 dealers and 800 wholesalers. Thirdly, the company has entered into a tie up with Educational Institutes and is keen on developing such institutional tie ups to garner a larger share of the note books market.

The stationary market in India is largely influenced by the educational and office stationary products. A large chunk of this market is influenced by demand from school books and syllabus-based books. According to a recent study conducted by AC Nielsen this market is estimated at Rs.10 billion per annum and is growing at 20% per annum. The study estimated that the all India note books market presently around Rs.5108 crores of which 80% is controlled by the unorganized sector catering to local demand. A small group of medium sized players control around 5% and a mere 15% of the total market is catered to large players.

About Blue Bird India:

Blue Bird (India) Limited is a Pune based manufacturer of world class notebooks, office stationery and print publications. The company markets its products under the brand name "Blue Bird". The company's superior technological strength derived from its ultra modern state-of-the-art machinery for both print and post-print processes has helped it launch several new pioneering products in its segment.

Blue Bird's commitment to quality, timely delivery and a wide range of products has catapulted it to the top of the heap amongst exercise/note book manufacturers.

The Pune-based industry leader has also started to test global markets and presently its exports include quality notebooks, writing pads with premium quality hard bound, soft bound and spiral bound note books. These note books are offered in super white, ultra smooth textured paper.