Sundram Fasteners Ltd. (SFL) has reported a 15.04% increase in its standalone net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 2019 to ₹109.54 crore due to higher commercial vehicle production and expansion of dealer network. Total revenue from operations grew 5.61% to ₹1,008.30 crore.
For FY19, net profit rose 18.9% to ₹437.12 crore, while operating revenue climbed to ₹4,002.34 crore from ₹3,419.79 crore. Exports for the year grew 18.4% to ₹1,382.99 crore due to volume growth, accompanied by a favourable foreign exchange rate movement. Other income included net foreign exchange gain of ₹18.18 crore against ₹11.64 crore, the company said in a regulatory filing. The board declared its second interim dividend of ₹3.10 per share. It had paid a first interim dividend of ₹2 per share.
In the year, SFL incurred capital expenditure (capex) of ₹442 crore on existing and new projects. The capex was to augment capacities for meeting increased demand and in tandem with production plans of key customers. While announcing that it had recently established its third unit at Mahindra World City, a special economic zone (SEZ), near here, the company said it was also in the process of setting up a new SEZ unit at Sri City to manufacture high-precision engineering components.
The new unit would be used as a hub to consolidate its foray into the non-auto segment, including off-road vehicles, for export business. On the incorporation of a wholly owned subsidiary Sunfast TVS Ltd., the firm said it was meant to boost SFL’s growth in non-automotive segments.
Defence foray
The country’s new defence procurement policy had created an ‘excellent’ opportunity for Indian manufacturers, the company said. Two defence corridors had been announced, one in Tamil Nadu and the other in Uttar Pradesh, it added.
The new firm would focus on aerospace and defence. It had orders for forged, cast and machined parts for all-terrain and land systems vehicles for defence. SFL would also focus on parts for armoured vehicles and trucks, it said.