SEIL eyes 30% growth in turnover

Vizag-based Steel Exchange India Limited (SEIL), which is into steel trading, steel making and software business, is aiming at a growth of 25-30 per cent in turnover during this fiscal.

The company posted a turnover of Rs 66.58 crore during the first quarter of the current fiscal.

"Although steel business in the country went through a sluggish period in April-June 2005, we could achieve a turnover of Rs 66.58 crore during the first quarter of the current fiscal. We are expecting a total turnover between Rs 400 and Rs 425 crore by the end of this fiscal," B Suresh Kumar, Director, SEIL, told Business Standard.

The company was listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in April 2004. The demand for steel is likely to better and the rates too may increase further in the coming days. Once this happens, SEIL's steel trading division will do brisk business, he said.

Last fiscal, SEIL earned a net profit of Rs 8.29 crore with a turnover of Rs 328 crore. During the first quarter, the company posted a net profit of Rs 3.78 crore with Rs 66.58 crore turnover. Of it, Rs 35.61 lakh turnover was generated through the software division. In the current year, it is expecting a net profit of Rs 10 crore.

SEIL, which has a 60,000- tonne capacity re-rolling mill to produce TMT bars at Visakhapatnam, is investing Rs 1.5 crore in its modernisation.

"By the end of this year, the mill will start producing superior grade thermex products, which will fetch higher prices in the market," Suresh Kumar said.

SEIL is also spending Rs 8 crore on expanding its steel melting shop at Ravulapalem in East Godavari district, which has a capacity of 60,000 tonnes a year.

"The expansion work will be completed before March 2006, after which our production capacity will increase to 90,000 tonnes. This will help our turnover touch Rs 500 crore in 2006-07," he said.

SEIL imported about 30,000 tonnes of scarp to meet the raw material requirement of the Ravulapalem unit during the first quarter.

"The company saved about Rs 4,000 on each tonne with this imports," he said, adding, "SEIL is planning to set up a sponge iron plant at an investment of about Rs 350 crore. The proposal will materialise during next fiscal."

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Forging ahead

• SEIL is investing Rs 1.5 crore in its modernisation
• It is also spending Rs 8 crore on expanding its steel melting shop at Ravulapalem in East Godavari district, which has a capacity of 60,000 tonnes a year
• The expansion work will be completed before March 2006 after which its production capacity will increase to 90,000 tonnes