New Delhi, June 16: JK Industries has reported a jump of 48 per cent in net profit at Rs 32.75 crore on an increased turnover of Rs 1346.26 crore for the year ended March 31, 2000. The company's net profit stood at Rs 22.08 crore on a turnover of Rs 1296.56 crore in 1998-99. JK Tyres managing director Raghupati Singhania said, "We hope to achieve a double digit sales growth this year by raising capacities by 12.5 per cent to 4.5 million tyres at an investment of Rs 140 crore".The company's sales increased to an all-time high of Rs 1,346 crore during 1999-2000, a hike of 3.83 per cent over the previous year.
The improvement in profit was due to higher capacity utilisation of 103 per cent, cost reduction by Rs 10 crore and new marketing initiatives, he said.
JK Industries registered a profit before tax of Rs 33.45 crore, an increase of 51.5 per cent over Rs 22.08 crore in the previous year. The company recorded an operating profit of around Rs 160 crore.The board has announced that the already recommended interim dividend of Rs 2.5 per equity share will be the final dividend for the year. The investment of Rs 140 crore is part of the total outlay of Rs 345 crore which the company decided to pump in last year. The company's interest burden came down by around 10 per cent in 1999-2000. JK Industries, with a 22 per cent market share, sold 3.03 million tyres with exports of Rs 138 crore in 1999-2000.
The company's other divisions, including sugar and seeds, also reported an increase in production in the 1999-2000 fiscal. The company will invest Rs 25 crore for raising sugar production capacity by 37 per cent to 5,000 tonne per day and increasing its power generation facility.
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