Auto Components

 
SWARAJ ENGINES NET PROFIT UP

 

Mumbai: Swaraj Engines on Saturday said its net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2009, jumped 54.61 per cent to Rs 15.57 crore, over the same period last year.

 

The company had a net profit of Rs 10.07 crore for the same quarter ended March 2008, Swaraj Engines said in a filing to the BSE. Total operating income of the company rose to Rs 158.28 crore for the quarter under review, over Rs 89.41 crore for the same quarter previous fiscal.

 

 

 

AUTO PARTS SUPPLIERS SWING BACK TO FULL CAPACITY

 

 

 Domestic auto parts suppliers are swinging back to their full capacity and re-thinking their investment plans.

 

This is subsequent to a good show by auto makers in April and an optimistic outlook for May and June.

 

Some of the leading suppliers such as Minda Industries, Sriram Pistons and JBM Auto have said that the capacity utilisation at their plants is now going back to 85-90 per cent.

 

As of now signals are better. We are going back to normal production level. In some components it is 80-85 per cent of capacity utilisation. In other parts it is up to 90 per cent, said Mr Nirmal Minda, Chairman and Managing Director of the Rs 900-crore Delhi-based Minda Industries Ltd.

 

In October-December when car sales had fallen, Minda Industries, which makes components such as horns, switches and lighting products, witnessed a 20 per cent cut in output. It had also put on hold Rs 50-crore investment at Bawal to make lighting products mainly to supply to Maruti.

 

But now with sales looking encouraging, we are re-thinking of some of the investments, said Mr Minda.

 

Rico Auto too said that its utilisation has gone back to full capacity mainly because of robust sales of Hondas two wheeler companies and Maruti Suzuki.

 

We are operating at full capacity as far as domestic sales are concerned. Export volumes had declined by 50 per cent. So we expect that capacity to be optimised only by the end of the calendar year, said Mr Arvind Kapur, Managing Director of the Gurgaon-based Rs 700-crore Rico Auto.

 

In the next five to six months, Rico Auto, which supplies mainly engine components, will invest at Hardiwar to cater to Hero Honda and at Sanand for Tata Motors Nano plant.

 

Meanwhile, it is also expanding at Gurgaon to supply for Nano till the Sanand plant gets completely operational.

 

Both Maruti and Hyundai are operating at their peak capacity. Apart from Hero Honda, Bajaj too is at a better production level. So these suppliers whose capacities are linked to these companies are going for the next phase of investment, said Mr A.K. Taneja, President, Sriram Pistons & Rings.

 

According to JBM Auto Director, Mr Nishant Arya, the company has witnessed about 10 per cent increase in capacity at its plants. But we are still being cautious in new investments, he said.