Mini ratna PSE, Balmer Lawrie & Co., saw net sales for FY10 declining Rs Rs 1,635 crore from Rs 1,657 crore, but registered net profit of Rs 108.32 crore, compared to Rs 101.61 crore, an 11% rise over last year.
For the quarter to March 31, net profit stood at Rs 25.54 crore, against Rs 26.67 crore in the year-ago period.
Commenting on the results, P P Sahoo, executive director, said the dip in sales was largely due to recessionary pressures on the logistics infrastructure business and travel and tours in the first two quarters of FY10. ?We are in international logistics mainly and it took a hit during Q1 and Q2,? said Sahoo. Net sales of the logistics infrastructure and services were at Rs 334.45 crore in FY10, down from Rs 398.16 crore in FY09. Similarly, the travel and tour division registered sales of Rs 608 crore, compared to Rs 662 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. Travel was low in the first two quarters in FY10. Almost 80% of Balmer Lawrie?s travel and tours business? revenues come from government travel and with the ban on business class, it impacted sales. ?The number of tickets issued were higher, but value lower,? said Sahoo.
The losses were made up to a large extent by two other divisions, industrial packaging and greases and lubricants which performed well. While industrial packaging saw net sales of Rs 353 crore in FY10, from Rs 299 crore in the last fiscal, greases and lubricants saw sales of Rs 284.76 crore against Rs 231 crore.
For the new fiscal, Balmer Lawrie expects a turnover of Rs 2000 crore. ?We are primarily growing our manufacturing business,? said Sahoo. The company has set up a mid-sized new plant at Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh which will be commissioned soon. It is entering new businesses like food packaging.
