The company recorded an increase of 19 per cent in sales and other income from the previous year's figure of Rs 1,152.06 crore.

The growth in sales was achieved despite a loss of production, resulting from lockout at Kochi and Vadodara plants as well as the Premier Tyres plant at Kalamassery, says a release.

The operating profit before depreciation and taxation stood at Rs 120.66 crore during the year which is 60 per cent higher than the previous year's figure of Rs 75.32 crore, it added.

Tighter working capital management helped the company to reduce the interest charges by nearly 30 per cent during the year.

Apollo Tyres vice-chairman and managing director Onkar S Kanwar attributed the profitability to improved current asset management and introduction of contemporary technological and managerial practices in the company.

Apollo Tyres is planning to set up a greenfield 100 tonnes per day capacity hybrid (cross ply/radials) plant involving an investment of Rs 450 crore. The company proposes to implement the project by 2003, as a 100 per cent subsidiary of Apollo Tyres Ltd. "We plan to harness information technology in improving supply chain management as well as sales and distribution function. That will boost our cost efficiency further", he said. The board also approved the setting up of a shareholders' committee comprising three independent directors - Shardul S Shroff, OP Gupta and R V Subrahmanian.

The company expects to achieve a 20 per cent growth in sales in the current fiscal.

The full impact of the recently expanded and modernised passenger radials manufacturing facility at Vadodara will be realised during this fiscal.The company has already announced the commissioning of the expanded state-of-the-art radial facility in January 2000, involving an aggregate outlay of Rs 94 crore.