GMR Industries net rises 68%

Hyderabad-based GMR Industries Limited, the flagship company of the GMR Group, registered a turnover of Rs 310 crore in the fiscal ended March 31, 2005, representing a growth of 20 per cent over the previous year's turnover of Rs 259 crore.

The company's net profits rose by 68 per cent to Rs 18.70 crore from Rs 11.09 crore in the previous year. Its profit before tax (PBT) doubled to Rs 32 crore from Rs 16 crore during the year 2003-04.

The company has proposed an increased dividend of 20 per cent for its shareholders for the financial year 2004-05 as compared to 15 per cent in the previous year.

While the gross profit of the company's metallurgical division has come down to Rs 8.13 crore during the year from Rs 11.92 crore in 2003-04, international trade and sugar division reported Rs 14.60 crore and 21.33 crore respectively as compared to Rs 4.99 crore and Rs 14.13 crore respectively in the previous fiscal.

Announcing the company's audited financial results for the year 2004-05, K Narayana Rao, managing director of GMR Industries, said that the company is planning to invest between Rs 160 crore and Rs 200 crore on expansion and newer operations in the next three years.

The investments include over Rs 40 crore in sugar plant expansion, Rs 70 crore on an 18-mega watt cogeneration power plant proposed in Maharashtra, and around Rs 100 crore on dairy and confectionery apart from agri and seed business.

For the dairy and confectionery venture, the company has tied up with Robo Bank for both financial assistance and consultancy support. The bank is expected to submit its report by September. "Once the report is through, we will start work on the project," he said.

According to Rao, the company is also planning to increase the cane production by adding another 25,000 acres to increase the present crushing capacity to 5,000 tonnes per day from the existing 3,900 tonnes by 2006-07.