Favourable exports and a strong performance by its Mexican subsidiary helped J K Tyres & Industries Ltd. to post a net profit of Rs. 55.3 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal, which was three times higher than the net profit of Rs. 16.4 crore a year ago but lower than the Rs. 70.4 crore of the previous quarter.
Commenting on the consolidated results, Raghupati Singhania chairman and managing director, said that the company had been able to tide over the challenging times with its leadership in truck bus radials. The rupee depreciation remained a major cause of concern with its cascading effect on input costs, he said. The company could utilise only 70 per cent of its installed capacity.
Addressing presspersons, Arun Bajoria, President and Director of the company, said that the increased profitability in this quarter was supported by a combination of factors ranging form consolidation of truck/bus tyre market leadership to enlargement of the customer base, and entry into new markets. The performance of overseas manufacturing facility also helped, he added.
JK Tyre has markets across six continents with six plants in India and three in Mexico. Its total capacity is 2.65 lakh tonnes.
Pointing out that the company was keeping itself ready for an upturn in the auto industry, A K Kinra, Finance Director, said that fresh investments were under way at the unit in Chennai as well as in Mexico, which had now begun supplying to OEMs (original equipment manufacturers).
