BWI: Castrol India Q2 Net Up 55%, at Rs. 128.4 Crores

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: Castrol
Monday, July 27, 2009 12:59 PM IST (07:29 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Economy; Business: Automotives, Banking & financial services, Financial Analyst, Stock exchanges; Automotive
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Castrol India Q2 Net Up 55%, at Rs. 128.4 Crores
Interim Dividend at Rs.10 /- per Share

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Monday, July 27, 2009 -- (Business Wire India) -- Castrol India Limited today announced its second quarter results for the period April - June 2009.

The company delivered a record performance with Profit after Tax growing by 55%.

During the quarter under review, PBT increased by 54% to Rs.197.6 crores whilst PAT increased by 55% to Rs. 128.4 crores. Net Sales were up by 3% to Rs. 637.5 crores.

For the six month period, January - June 2009, PBT is up by 28% to Rs. 314.8 Crores whilst PAT increased by 31% to Rs. 204.7 crores.

The company has declared an interim dividend of Rs.10/- for the year ending 31st December, 2009.

Commenting on the results, Naveen Kshatriya, Vice Chairman - Castrol India Limited & Vice President Asia & Pacific, BP Lubricants, said, "Castrol India has delivered an extraordinary performance with an all time high PBT of Rs198 crores in a single quarter - a 54% growth over the same period in 2008, which in itself was a record. This outstanding performance has been delivered in a very difficult economic environment. The achievement is attributable to faithful execution of our long term strategy and is underpinned by 'in year focus' on defending margins, attacking cost inefficiencies and reducing working capital. All this has helped deliver strong bottom line and cash flow. Results over the last two quarters reflect our ability to deliver a sustainable winning performance even in a challenging environment."

Mr. Kshatriya further said, "Whilst we have seen a decline in volumes due to economic slowdown, we have grown our gross profit due to increase in unit gross margin. The margin improvement has been achieved through a combination of premium product mix, higher unit realization and favourable cost of materials. We have also worked aggressively on cost efficiency and cost effectiveness programs to make every rupee count and further improve our profitability. We continue to focus heavily on safety in operations".

Despite the challenging environment, the company elevated its level of marketing investment in key brands. A new 360 degree marketing campaign for our lead brand CRB, a high performance engine oil for Tractors / Trucks, has resulted in a significant turnaround for the brand. The car and bike oil brands too had increased level of market activity with innovative customer outreach programmes like Castrol Power1 Passion Hunt and Castrol Golden Spanner Mechanic Awards. These two marketing programmes have been recognized as amongst the best initiatives in BP worldwide.

Outlook

Commenting on the future outlook, Mr. Kshatriya said, "We expect the economy to gain momentum by year end. With demand revival, we hope to regain volumes. However, as crude has moved up circa USD 70/barrel from its lows of USD 40 / barrel; our raw material prices are hardening and going forward this is likely to impact margin. Despite this risk and the uncertainties of monsoon, we remain confident of sustainable growth in our financial performance. Our confidence is based on superiority of our products, strong customer relationships and sustained investment in brand and organizational capability building. It is bolstered by the unflinching commitment of our employees, our business partners and our loyal consumers."

For more on Castrol India Ltd., visit www.castrol.co.in

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Press Release
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ECONOMY, AUTOMOTIVE, BANKING, Financial Analyst, STOCK EXCHANGES, AUTOMOTIVE, 500870.BO

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