For fiscal 1997-98, Otis has registered an 11 per cent growth in turnover to Rs 235.54 crore. Clearly, the company has been affected by the slowdown in the construction business -- the pinch is more in the higer-end of the business. With sales showing more or less a flat growth, the company has decided to focus on cost-cutting measures to boost its bottomline. It has initiated a voluntary retirement scheme to streamline its workforce, the cost of which will be charged to the profit-and-loss account over a three-year period.

The 33 per cent rise innet is surprising considering that PBT has risen by only 5 per cent to Rs 27.70 crore compared with Rs 26.26 crore last year. However, this mystery is unravelled if one looks into the company's records. A high tax payer, Otis has gained substantially from the reduction in corporate tax. The benefit has been further augmented due to the tax exemption on VRS. The rise in net profit has also been buoyed by a reduction in operating cost achieved by controlling labour and material cost, due to outsourcing of certain components and third-party installations. On an equity base of Rs 12.54 crore, the earnngs per share has risen to Rs 16.23 per share compared with Rs 12.16 in the previous year.