The shareholders of Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd. have approved a dividend of 170% at the Annual General Meeting held today. This is the highest ever dividend declared by the company. The company achieved significant milestones in business and operations in the financial year 2007-08.
It has recorded its highest ever turnover with net income crossing Rs. 1490 crore as against Rs. 1300 crore in 2006-07 marking an increase of 15%. The profit before taxation has increased from Rs. 106 crore to Rs.130 crore, reflecting an increase of 23% over the previous year. Following this rising trend is the net profit which increased from Rs. 70.22 crore in the previous year to Rs. 86.93 crore in 2007-08, a growth of 24%.
In terms of growth, four businesses, i.e. Travel & Tours, Industrial Packaging, Greases & Lubricants and Logistics Infrastructure & Services have been the main revenue drivers.
The Industrial Packaging Division which is the largest manufacturer of steel drums / barrels continued to hold its lead position in market share. Further rationalization and consolidation of manufacturing facilities have been planned during the current year to improve operational efficiencies and achieve reduction in costs as well as achieve higher volume of value added products with improved quality. Whereas a second production facility was operationalised at Chennai during last year to augment production capacity to meet requirement of the peak season, during the current year a new unit at Asaoti has been commissioned to cater to the North India requirements.
In view of shrinking margins on industrial sales, the Greases & Lubricants Division has adopted the strategy to strongly promote retail and export sales to ensure growth and higher profitability. This has translated into the achievement of highest ever profit by the SBU last year. The SBU will continue to introduce value added high performance products for industrial and automotive applications.
During 2007-08, the Indian economy reflected a general upswing in the export-import trade and all indicators point to its accentuation in the next few years. To capitalize on this opportunity a concerted effort is being made to widen the client base by penetration into the Private Sector besides consolidating the public sector & government business.
Foreign trade has shown around 20% increase in the last seven years and in turn has created a pressure on the existing port capacities. In this light the Logistics Infrastructure SBU has decided on exploring possibilities for expanding capacities of its Container Freight Stations (CFS) at Chennai and Kolkata and opening new CFSs & ICDs in upcoming ports and upcountry locations. Warehousing activities are also being pursued aggressively towards moving up the value chain in the logistics space.
The Travel & Tours Division, which is one of the largest IATA affiliated travel agencies in the country, witnessed significant increase in business volumes during the year. The Lucknow and Ahmedabad branches gained recognition from IATA and new travel offices were commissioned at Kochi and Gurgaon.
Despite the adversities in the market, the Leather Chemicals Division achieved volume growth over the preceding year in both fat liquors and syntans segments.
The company, amidst its drive towards meeting the Mission 2010 targets has continued to pursue its Corporate Social Responsibility by dedicating upto 0.5% of its net profit towards social causes.
