Hyderabad-based Pennar Industries Limited, engaged in the production of cold-rolled steel strips, metal profiles and engineering components, posted a 74.73 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 10.03 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2008, as compared with Rs 5.74 crore during the same period last year.
Total sales increased 34.11 per cent to Rs 171.5 crore during the quarter as compared with Rs 127.88 crore last year. Earnings per share stood at Rs 4.5 from Rs 4.01 last year. Expenditure was up 34.84 per cent to Rs 155.32 crore as compared with Rs 115.18 crore last year.
The company, which gets about a third of revenues from the automobile sector, saw its revenues coming down from this sector by about six per cent due to market conditions, particularly low demand for trucks during the quarter. “The diverse products helped us maintain our profits,” said Pennar Industries vice-chairman Nrupender Rao.
The company had executed a trial order for the stainless steel sidewalls, roof and others for railway coaches made by the Integral Coal Factory in Chennai. It is now focusing on building stainless steel coaches excluding the wheels and chassis for the Indian Railways.
It earned a revenue of about Rs 65 crore last year from the Indian Railways and expects Rs 140 crore this fiscal and Rs 250 crore the next year. It will invest about Rs 15 crore for upgrading the facilities at its manufacturing plants to handle orders from the Indian Railways, he told the media here on Thursday.
The company is looking at a turnover of Rs 800 crore this year and Rs 1,000 crore the next fiscal.
