Industry sources aver that the experience gained by JK Industries in turning around Vikrant Tyres Ltd in a matter of ten months could help the company n when it approaches the BIFR.

JK Industries managing director and Vikrant Tyres director RP Singhania however remained non-committal about the company taking a close look at Dunlop. "It is a time-consuming process and, therefore, too early to comment on it," he said. This comes at a time when tyre major MRF Ltd reportedly spurned the offer to bring Dunlop in its fold.

JK Industries had taken over Vikrant on June 1 last year. Since then the company has earned a net profit of Rs 16.46 crore, thus wiping out its accumulated losses. Its gross profit has jumped nearly ten-fold, from a mere Rs 2.67 crore for the year ending March 31, 1997 toRs 23.41 crore at the end of March, 1998. This increase was possible largely due to control of total expenditure by the new management, Singhania said. The company's profit before tax stood at Rs 18.13 crore during the period under review, against a loss of Rs 5.35 crore in the previous financial year.

Vikrant Tyres has regularised interest overdues to banks and financial institutions. It has wiped out accumulated losses of Rs 11.40 crore. The book value of its shares now works out to Rs 41.86, more than double of what it was before JK Industries took over. Reserves excluding revaluation reserve now stand at Rs 81.68 crore, against Rs 17.22 crore at the end of March 1977.

According to Singhania, the company has drawn up a Rs 273-crore modernisation plan to upgrade the truck radials facilities. Necessary funds for the same have been tied up with financial institutions, he added.

Vikrant Tyres has also entered into a technical collaboration with Continental AG, Germany. Under the agreement, the companywill receive technology for manufacturing superior quality all steel truck and bus radials.

Singhania, however, pointed out that a lot more needs to be done at Vikrant Tyres. Foremost among these is the question of raising productivity which is less than half the industry average. The company's 2000-strong workforce is also the highest paid in the tyre industry. While cutting corners is an ongoing exercise, Singhania pointed out that they are loooking at the possibility of joint marketing. At present, Vikrant Tyres does its marketing through its 47 depots while JK depends on its 102 depots spread across the country. A joint marketing effort will mean not only synergy, but a lot of cost saving as well, he said. Of the total tyre production, 76 per cent is accounted for by bus and truck tyres and in this sement JK Industries alongwith Vikrant Tyres commands a 20.4 per cent market share.

Apollo Tyres throws hat in ring too

Apollo Tyres has joined the race for the acquisition of Dunlop Tyres. Thecompany already has one acquisition, Premier Tyres, under its belt.

According to highly placed sources, Apollo Tyres chairman Omkar Singh Kanwar has reportedly met Chandan Basu, son of the West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu for acquiring Dunlop's factories in Shahganj in West Bengal and Amabttur nera Chennai, through the BIFR route.

Industry sources said that Kanwar's move comes in the wake of Chennai-based tyre major MRF's reported plans to take over Dunlop's plants. This would have seriously threatened Apollo's predominance in the lucrative truck-tyre segemnt.

Apollo has been using Dunlop's Shahganj facilities as an additional manufacturing centre for its brands. It also uses the Tyre Corporation of India's Calcutta plant for the same purpose. Both Dunlop and TCI had been `converting' Apollo's raw material into truck tyres on per kilogramme basis.

Meanwhile, Dunlop chairman Manu Chabbria is said to be disturbed over the possible sale. He has informed the BIFR that any such arrangement should bedone only with the concurrence of the Dunlop board.