Sutlej Textiles & Industries Ltd has reported a turnover of Rs 791.34 crore for the year to March 31, 2008, an increase of around 11% on the figure for the preceding year. Profit after tax shrank to Rs 3.03 crore from Rs 36.32 crore the previous year as Sutlej and the industry struggled against heavy odds on all fronts.
A Sutlej official said the higher turnover came despite the depressed market of Indian textiles and clothing industry as the company stabilized its expanded spinning capacity.
Unit realizations were depressed and margins were under pressure, mainly because of the unprecedented steep appreciation of the rupee against US greenback in 2007. At the same time, polyester and acrylic fibre prices have flared up in tandem with global crude oil prices, while raw cotton exports have pushed up domestic prices to levels that are 35% over last year’s prices.
Achieving a profit was a remarkable feat, he said.
However, the recent weakening of the rupee is expected to improve the export competitiveness of the textiles sector in the coming months.
Sutlej Textiles has a spinning capacity of 2.08 lakh spindles in its two spinning units at Bhawanimandi in Rajasthan) and Kathua in J&K. It has also set up a capacity to produce 4.9 million metres of fabric, 2m metres of home textiles, 0.5m pieces of trousers (on single shift basis) and a processing capacity of 20m metres of fabric per annum at Bhilad in Gujarat.