Amara Raja?s sales cross Rs 1,000 cr, 1:2 bonus declared
Business Line | Thursday, Jun 26, 2008

Chennai, June 25: Amara Raja Batteries? turnover has crossed the Rs 1,000-crore mark for the first time . The company?s net sales for 2007-08 were Rs 1,109 crore, compared with Rs 605.57 crore for the previous year.

The company has declared a bonus issue of shares in the ratio of one share for every two held.

Amara Raja?s board has recommended a dividend of 70 paise a share of face value of Rs 2 each, or 35 per cent.

Mr Jay Galla, Managing Director, Amara Raja, points out that the 80 per cent rise in turnover is mainly due to ?lead inflation?, or increase in the value of the products due to the increase in lead, a key raw material in the making of batteries.

This means, when lead prices come down, the company?s sales could also be lower.

Mr Galla said that the in volume terms, sales went up 40 per cent, which better reflects the growth the company has achieved.

Amara Raja has a 26 per cent share in the automotive OEM segment and 28 per cent in the organised aftermarket. The current manufacturing capacity for automotive four-wheeler batteries is at 4.9 million units a year.

The company is expanding this capacity and post-expansion, it would be 5.4 million units.

In May, Amara Raja entered the two-wheeler battery segment. The company has a capacity to make 1 million two-wheeler batteries, which is being expanded to 3.2 million.

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