Piramal Glass Ltd., the glass bottle manufacturing company of the Ajay Piramal group, has reported net profit of INR 23.4 crore for the quarter ended September, up from INR 0.6 crore a year ago.
The …
Piramal Glass Ltd., the glass bottle manufacturing company of the Ajay Piramal group, has reported net profit of INR 23.4 crore for the quarter ended September, up from INR 0.6 crore a year ago. The Mumbai-based company, which was in debt after some foreign acquisitions, made a turnaround in the fiscal ended March 2010, followed by 26% growth during the September quarter to INR 70 crore. Our continued focus on the high-end category comprises of cosmetics and perfumery is generating persistent growth and profits, said Vijay Shah, managing director, Piramal Glass. Piramal Glass currently works with three segments: cosmetics and perfumery, speciality foods and beverages, and pharmaceuticals. It will, however, now reduce its exposure to pharmaceutical industry and increasingly shift focus to the cosmetics and perfumery space, Shah said. In fact, the perfumery unit is the largest contributor to revenue with 49%, with pharma at about 30%. Moreover, the cosmetics segment grew by 15% during the September quarter, Shah said. We are significantly reducing our business focus from the pharma segment and shifting to cosmetics, he said, adding that the move was due to the fact that PET bottles now have a major share of the domestic drug industry, causing slow growth for glass products. The company is also planning to set up two new manufacturing plants near its existing facility in Gujarat to increase capacity dedicated to the perfumes and cosmetics market. Group chairman Ajay Piramal said the company currently had a “robust order book“ and demand higher than its existing capacity. Suppliers are increasingly looking at Asian companies given the cost advantages we offer, he said, adding that the company continued to be open to acquisitions. Around 75% of the company“s revenue is currently from global markets. The company informed stock exchanges at the end of October that it will delist from the Ahmedabad Stock Exchange, but will continue on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stocl Exchange.