Impressive Showing despite Recession

Impressive Showing despite Recession Hansavivek LARSEN AND TOUBRO has turned in impressive working results for 1983-84 in spite of work disruptions at its factories in Orissa, Karnataka and Maharashtra entailing production loss of over Rs 23 crore. Sales, profits as well as margins have all been better. The company has earned a gross profit of Rs 46.76 crore against Rs 36.81 crore in the previous year following rise in income from sales, construction and related activity, freight and charter hire, commission, etc, from Rs 298 crore to Rs 332 crore. With provisions for depreciation and taxation requiring more, the gap has been narrowed and net profit is Rs 23.28 crore against Rs 21.66 crore. Total dividend is stepped up by two points to 24 per cent on the capital enlarged by allotment of 26,42,141 equity shares to financial institutions and holders of convertible debentures. The enhanced distribution is covered 3.84 times by earnings as against 4.08 times previously. The reces sion in the electrical industry continued and in spite of fierce competition, the company was able to maintain its strong position in the market. For the first time, it booked orders from the cement industry for energy saving Atox vertical roller mills and pulse energised electro-filters for air pollution control. The company also received orders for several cement plants and hydraulic excavators and a large contract from NALCO covering civil, mechanical and electrical work at its plant at Damanjodi in Orissa. The company secured a major order for boiler steel structures for two units of 500 MW thermal power plant from NTPC and two new orders for railway electrification covering 915 track kms. It also supplied purification towers of multiwall construction for the Heavy Water Project at Thai and the First charge chrome plant for Fcrro Alloys Corporation. It delivered the first jack car and telescopic hoist for the Bokaro Steel Plant for changing refractory lining of L D Converters and installed fabricated Tuyere stocks manufactured to the design of Steinfuerter, West Germany, in one of the blast furnaces at the Bhilai Steel Plant. The production and tooling facilities for switchgear factories at Ahmednagar and Faridabad were expanded further during the year. A new facility to produce high quality flat leaf springs was commissioned at the Madh works. A computerised printed circuit board testing facility has been installed at. the Powai switchgear factory. The Awarpur cement works produced 5.45 lakh tonnes of cement during the year. Production has now fully stabilised. Mechanical erection contracts for oil and gas projects, undertaken on a joint venture basis in Kuwait with Consolidated Contractors International Company, have also been almost completed.