Ravi Uppal in Bangalore on Tuesday. (AFP)

Bangalore, Feb. 1: ABB India Ltd has posted a net profit of Rs 150.5 crore during 2004, a growth of 49 per cent over Rs 100.9 crore in the previous year.

The company has clocked revenues of Rs 2305.6 crore during the 12-month period, reflecting a robust growth of 53 per cent over Rs 1503.1 crore in 2003, vice-chairman and managing director Ravi Uppal said.

However, the net profit after exceptional items increased marginally to Rs 154.3 crore from Rs 124.2 crore in 2003, a growth of 24 per cent year-on-year. The exceptional items include Rs 3.8 crore from the sale of control valves business against the previous year?s net income, including a profit of Rs 23.3 crore from divestment of the metering business.

Uppal said, ?The year 2004 was one of the best years for us and the current year also holds good growth potential. We have started the year with an order book worth Rs 1,350 crore, a growth of 25 per cent over last year. The prospects for 2005 are very promising. The capacity and range expansion is underway as we increase market penetration and enlarge our portfolio. Our new revenue streams from recently launched businesses are already contributing to our growth.?

He said an improvement in profitability resulted from increased revenue volumes, efficient management of working capital and operational efficiencies and ABB continued its focus on improving receivables, reducing inventory levels and enhanced productivity.

Capacity expansions were undertaken across business units and new products were added for customers, including distribution transformers, air circuit breakers and household electrical accessories.

The company declared a dividend of 70 per cent for the year at Rs 7 per share of Rs 10 each against 60 per cent in the previous year. The earnings per share (EPS) jumped by 24 per cent to Rs 36.41 from Rs 29.3 in 2003.