The improved profitability was on account of the restructuing exercise which resulted in sale of the white goods business and chemicals plant. The consequent reduction in the capital employed led to an interest savings of about Rs 12 crore, said a press release from Voltas.

The company, however, has posted a lower sales of Rs 546.3 crore against Rs 677.3 crore in the same period last year.

The gross profit (after financial items and depreciation) for the half year fell by 11.52 per cent to Rs 21.5 crore from Rs 24.3 crore of the corresponding period last year.

The net profit for the second quarter ended September 30 is Rs 4.4 crore as compared with a loss of Rs 1.5 crore in the corresponding period last year. However, gross profit during the second quarter of the current fiscal declined by 10.65 per cent to Rs 10.9 crore from Rs 12.2 crore.

After adjusting for all extraordinary items, the company has posted almost the same net profit in the first half as last year. This is despite charging Rs 4.2 crore on account of voluntary retirement scheme (a sharp increase from 0.4 in the comparable period of the previous year) and a steep reduction in extra-ordinary income of Rs. 0.1 crore as against Rs. 10.80 crore last year.