Escorts Ltd has emerged strongly from the slowdown blues of 2008-09. In an interaction with FE’s Ronojoy Banerjee, joint MD of Escorts Ltd Nikhil Nanda speaks about the future road for the group. Excerpts:
The company’s net profits in Q4 have witnessed a four-fold jump to Rs 41.47 crore. What do you attribute this to?
In a nutshell, some reasons have been cost compression, wherein we have looked to cut costs-both variable and fixed, larger volumes (in tractors) and better overall planning.
Did poor rainfalls in the previous year impact Escorts’ tractor sales?
Monsoons were not good last year but it improved. We were, however, not very badly hit. Going forward, this year we would maintain the numbers because the forecasts states normal rainfall of about 98%.
Currently how much does your tractor business contribute to the overall sales of the company?
In the last quarter our tractor sales contributed anywhere between 85-90% of the overall sales of the company. On a consolidated basis, in the next two years we want the tractor’s share to come down to about 65%.
Escorts’ latest tractor FT-60 X-TRA Torque is available only in Punjab and Haryana. Do you plan to take the brand to other parts of the country?
Yes, definitely. Escorts is a pan-India brand. The markets in South and West are very lucrative and we would take the brand there. It would be difficult to give a time line as of now.
