All Voltas subsidiaries stage a turnaround

All of Voltas' ailing subsidiaries and joint ventures have climbed back into the black, six years after the turnaround exercise at the Tata group major began.

While Voltas itself turned around two years back, after reporting its first ever loss in 1996-97, the bleeding subsidiaries continued to incur losses eating into the profits of the parent firm.

The Dubai-based Metrovol FZE, a wholly owned subsidiary of Voltas, recorded profits to the tune of Rs one crore for the 2002-03 year.

Simto Investment Company, another Voltas arm, has reported a profit of Rs 17.58 lakh for the year ended March 31, 2003, compared with a loss of Rs 1.47 crore in the previous year.

Voltas Air International (VAIL), earlier a joint venture with Air International Group of Australia, and now known as Auto Aircon India, has also recorded a profit of Rs 47.12 lakh compared with losses in the previous years.

Voltas took over the entire equity capital of Rs 11.3 crore held by Air International December 2002.

Perfect Moulds, another subsidiary, has reported a net profit of Rs 48 lakhs after the joint venture agreement with Sermo Montaigu of France, a leading mould manufacturer for the automotive sector in Europe.

Virat Investment Company and Voltas Systems were amalgamated with the parent company in April 2002 as part of the restructuring process.

According to company reports, this amalgamation facilitated availability and better utilization of liquid resources which augmented the profit margins.

The restructuring exercise at Voltas also included sell off of some of its subsidiaries, and divestment of stake from other joint ventures.

Voltas itself sold its chemicals business to group company Rallis, divested the thermostat division, and formed a joint venture in white goods with Electrolux, from which it later existed.