The BPL group is planning to prune its workforce to 6,000 from the existing 9,000 through a voluntary retirement scheme in a year's time. |
The move is estimated to cost the company Rs 30-40 crore and is part of its overall restructuring exercise, which is being worked out to bring the group back on tracks. |
"This will substantially aid in managing our costs," a senior executive of BPL told Business Standard. |
The company is also toying with merging or regrouping the three listed companies: BPL Ltd, BPL Engineering and BPL Refrigeration. |
BPL Ltd in a statement has admitted that its operations are not normal. According to the statement, "The company is pursuing a debt restructuring programme with its lenders to align its debts and interest costs to a sustainable level and also to ensure availability of working capital to resume normal operations." |
The company, as widely speculated, is talking with global consumer electronics major Sanyo for a possible equity infusion. No comments were, however, forthcoming from the company. |
"We are in the process of protracted negotiations with a whole lot of people. Restructuring a company takes a lot of time and we are making progress and we are confident of the steps we are taking," a senior group executive said. Arvind Mills restructuring exercise, he said, took nearly two years and today the company was a winner. |
BPL Ltd for the quarter ended June 30, 2003, reported a loss of Rs 66.4 crore on net sales of Rs 111.3 crore. |
The company had also extended its financial year to September 30, 2003, in an effort to get the restructuring process going. |
The ensuing board meeting, which should happen within 60 days from September 30, 2003, is expected to give clarity to this process. |
Almost the entire accounts of the group's three main companies, BPL Ltd, BPL Engineering and BPL Refrigeration, are in the negative. |
BPL Engineering reported a net loss of Rs 1.8 crore on net sales of Rs 31.3 crore, while BPL Refrigeration reported a net loss of Rs 13 crore on net sales of Rs 18.5 crore. |
The official noted that the company invested in a lot of projects and the gestation time is taking long and this is one of the reasons for the poor financial results it is reporting quarter on quarter for the past one year. The company also recently brought in a nominee from ICICI as part of its restructuring exercise. |