Mumbai, Aug 8: Voltas is expected to constitute itself into two distinct businesses. While one of these will concentrate on growth through manufacture, brand and product development (namely unitary cooling products), the other business will cater to light and heavy infrastructural projects, according to a statement by Voltas chairman Ishaat Hussain.Hussain, while addressing shareholders at the company's 46th annual general meeting, added that the company intended to leverage the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) skills of Voltas International on a selective basis in infrastructural projects, sophisticated project- management technologies and global sourcing.
Voltas has identified unitary cooling products, pumps and projects, materials-handling and textile machinery as substantial growth areas for the company.
The AGM on Tuesday witnessed noisy scenes and protests by employee shareholders over the issue of retrenchment and the hiving-off of assets. "You can challenge me, but you cannot challenge the rules of economics," Hussain said while addressing queries on the issue of cutting down staff strength.
Addressing the agitated employee shareholders, Hussain said the first batch has been suitably compensated with a voluntary retirement scheme and the second lot with an early separation scheme.
Hussain said the company is passing through a difficult phase and it needs to look beyond restructuring and work towards making better profits. The objective of greater profit, he said, could be achieved only through a focus on market, technology cost and human resources.
On growth strategies, he said the Hyderabad unit has firmed up partnership with a large multinational to supply 12 lakh refrigerators. The order is worth Rs 900 crore and this would result in the utilisation of a sizable portion of its manufacturing capacity for next three years.
Voltas, after a gap of three years, has turned around with an operating profit of Rs 6.9 crore from a loss of Rs 11.9 crore in 1998-99, he said, adding that it was due to this increase that the company could offer a dividend of 12 per cent.
The company has posted a net profit of Rs 72 lakh for the first quarter of the curent fiscal, as against Rs 20 lakh in the corresponding period last year. Net sales have also risen from Rs 214.64 crore in the first quarter of the last year to 235.54 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal.
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