MUMBAI: The sales turnover of John Fowler (India) has reached an all-time high of Rs 23.79 crore during the year ended March 1998, an increase of 39 per cent over the previous year. Profit after tax amounted to Rs 2.54 crore, up by 37 cer cent despite providing higher tax of Rs 1.21 crore (Rs 0.58 crore). The directors have recommended a dividend of 25 per cent.

The share capital of the company amounted to Rs 3.62 crore and reserves at Rs 23.03 crore. The borrowings were Rs 0.40 crore only. The company continued to widen its product range through its R&D and technical collaborations. The company has entered into a JV agreement with Dickinson Engg Ltd, UK, for the manufacture of tobacco processing equipment. The company is also negotiating a joint venture agreement with Filterwerk Mann+ Hummel, Germany, for the manufacture of industrial and automotive filters.

Nortel India

MUMBAI: Nortel India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Northern Telecom (Nortel), has entered intoan agreement with GEIL Projects and Services (India) Ltd, part of the National Telecom Group (Natelco), to market and service Nortel's complete portfolio of Norstar digital key telephone systems in India. Norstar delivers high voice, data and fax bandwidth to the desktop, and its modular, building-block design allows for easy expansion of the communications systems while meeting the corporates' business needs, Eric Foster, MD, Nortel told a press gathering.

Enkay Texofood

MUMBAI: The directors of Enkay Texofood Industries have recommended a dividend of 12 per cent for the seven month period ended March 1998 (20.57 per cent on an annualised basis). Sales amounted to Rs 202.24 crore (Rs 314.40 crore) and earned a net profit of Rs 10.28 crore (Rs 19.06 crore). The company has commissioned third production line of 250 ml `Onjus' during the period.

Bhagawati Gases

MUMBAI: Bhagawati Gases is forming a joint venture with Air Liquide, the leading French industrial gas company. Bhagawati Gasescurrently operates two modern air separation plants at Khetringar for the captive consumption of Hindustan Copper Ltd. The surplus product is supplied to the merchant markets of northern India. Under the terms of agreement, Bhagawati Gases will sell its liquid gases and transfer all its merchant customers to the joint venture.

Bharti BT

MUMBAI: Bharti BT, a leading provider of VSAT-based satellite communications services, announced that it had appointed Mumbai-based Microtech Software and Consultants Ltd as a regional centric systems integrator (RCSI) for the western region. The appointment will help Bharti BT capitalize on Microtech's SI capabilities and indepth understanding of the local market while enabling Microtech to broaden its portfolio of IT solutions by catering to the WAN needs.

Blue Star

MUMBAI: The board of directors of Blue Star Ltd has approved a scheme to spin off its profitable international software division. The new company will have a share capital of Rs 10 crore. Ofthis three per cent will be retained in an employee stock option plan (ESOP), designed to attract and regain talent in an industry where the attrition rate is very high. Of the balance, 29 per cent will be subscribed by the Blue Star and the remaining 68 per cent of the shares will be given to shareholders in the ratio of one equity share at par in the new company for every four shares held in Blue star.