Auto parts major and TVS group company Sundram Fasteners has reported a 16.5% growth in its net profit for the fiscal ended March 31, 2018 to Rs 367.47 crore compared with Rs 315.48 crore in the previous fiscal. The company said it will invest Rs 350 crore in the current fiscal and Rs 200-300 crore annually over the next five years to upgrade and add fresh capacities across its plants in India. The company on Wednesday said it is bullish on its China business and will invest Rs 100 crore to set up a casting facility adjacent to its existing plant to make all parts in-house. The Chinese business, which is profitable, is expected to clock Rs 1,000 crore turnover in the next few years against Rs 250 crore now, said Suresh Krishna, chairman, SFL. The company sees that the contribution from its international operations, including from exports, set to cross 50% in next three to four years compared to 30% now. Exports witnessed a 9.6% growth to Rs 1,144.46 crore (Rs 1,044.11 crore).
Addressing a press conference after handing over the baton to his daughters —Ararthi Krishna and Arundhathi
Krishna — Suresh Krishna said, “We have been the fastest-growing auto parts maker in India with a strong double-digit growth over the last few years. We are bullish on the future growth prospects as we see India holds immense opportunities as far as automotive business is concerned.” “With millions of cars and two-wheelers to be added over the next few years backed with strong economic support, the company hopes to retain its strong double-digit growth for the next few years, with export share expected to go up substantially,” he said. On the Chinese operations, Krishna said, “Probably we are one among a few proved to be success in China. We have been there for almost 11 years and we have started tasting the success there. It is a profitable business there. In fact, we are putting up a 10,000-tonne casting plant with an investment of Rs 100 crore (backward integration) to meet growing local demand. We are fast gaining traction there and we expect Chinese operations to contribute Rs 1,000 crore to our overall turnover in the next few years.”
Earlier, responding to questions, Arathi Krishna, the newly-appointed managing director, said, “The company is ready with EV technology. We have been investing and working on the EV side for quite sometime. Though it takes a long time for India to move into EV space, we are well set to meet the demand from our customers and we have been already supplying to some of our OEM clients abroad.” Ruling out its diversification into other areas, she said, “The domestic automotive sector itself throws billions of dollars opportunities. With millions of vehicles, including cars, bikes, scooters, CVs among other things, to be added over the next few years, Sundram Fasteners, being the market leader with decades of its quality products, expect to capitalise on the big boom.”
Meanwhile, the turnover for the fiscal ended March 31, 2018 has gone up 15.7% to Rs 3,425.73 crore against Rs 2,960.19 crore in the previous fiscal. During Q4, the turnover grew 21.6% to Rs 962.79 crore compared to Rs 792.04 crore, and profit grew to Rs 95.22 crore against Rs 87.66 crore in Q4 of last fiscal.
Source: financialexpress.com