01st May, 2008

The Board of Directors of Tube Investments of India Limited (TII) met today to approve the audited financial results for the quarter and year ended 31st March, 2008.

The total revenue, net of excise duty, grew by 9% from Rs. 1615.04 Crores to Rs. 1762.33 Crores. The increase came through higher volumes in most of the products. The operating Profit before Tax was lower at Rs. 78 Cr. compared with Rs. 124 Crores achieved last year. The Profit after tax was Rs.56.50 Cr. (previous year Rs. 155.78 Cr.). 

The Board of Directors of the Company has recommended a dividend of Re 1/- per equity share of face value Rs. 2/- , for the year.

The bicycles business consolidated its position this year and improved its market share. The turnover increased to Rs. 577 Crores, registering a growth of 13%. The off-take of bicycle by the trade segment was 16% higher than the previous year.

The Engineering business grew to Rs. 816 Crores, registering a growth of 5%, due to higher sales of Cold Rolled Steel Strips. Sale of precision steel tubes was lower by 2% due to the decline of the two wheeler segment, competition and lower realisation. The efforts to broad base the user industry helped offset, to a certain extent, the decline in sales of cold drawn welded tubes. The exorbitant increase in steel price affected the operating profit of the division the most. The expansion of capacity at the international business plant has been completed.

The metal formed products business grew to Rs. 370 Crores, registering a growth of 14%. Higher sales across all product lines viz., automotive & industrial chains, car doorframes, fine blanked products and roll formed railway wagon sections made this possible. However, the profitability in this business was also under pressure due to steep increase in steel price. Exports of metal formed products went up by 6% to Rs. 82 Crores despite Rupee appreciation.

Mr. L Ramkumar, Managing Director said, ”While the profitability was affected by slow down in segments of the auto industry and steep input cost increases, cost reduction efforts and growth in new segments mitigated the drop to some extent.”

Tube Investments of India consists of TI Cycles of India, Tube Products of India, TI Metal Forming (including Chains). In bicycles, TII is the second largest manufacturer with well-known brands - Hercules, BSA and Philips. TII is the market leader in precision steel tubes and roll-formed car doorframes in India. Also, being the second largest motor cycle chain manufacturer in India, TII is a major supplier to the Indian auto / auto- component industry.

Headquartered in Chennai, the $1.6 billion Murugappa Group is India’s leading business conglomerate, which fosters an environment of professionalism for its strong workforce of 28,000 employees. The group has 29 registered companies, which are market leaders in diverse areas on business viz. engineering, abrasives, finance, general insurance, sanitary ware, cycles, sugar, farm inputs, fertilizers, plantations, bio products and nutraceuticals. The Group has manufacturing units in 12 states.

The Group has forged strong joint venture alliances with leading international companies like Roca of Spain, Cargill of Geneva, Cerdak of South Africa, Jingri Diamond Industrial Company of China, DBS Bank of Singapore, Mitsui Sumitomo of Japan and Groupe Chimique Tunisien of Tunisia and has consolidated its status as one of the fastest growing diversified business house in India.