Eveready vice-chairman Deepak Khaitan in Calcutta on Wednesday. Picture by Kishor Roy Chowdhury

Calcutta, May 17: Eveready Industries India Ltd posted net sales of Rs 732.81 crore for the year ended March 31, 2006, up 12 per cent from Rs 654.92 crore in the previous fiscal. It will invest Rs 40 crore to expand the Calcutta unit.

Net profit stood at Rs 79.65 crore compared with Rs 46.31 crore in fiscal 2005.

“We plan to reach a capacity of 2.1 billion batteries by March 2008. The expansion would at the Calcutta and Chennai units,” said Deepak Khaitan, vice-chairman and managing director, Eveready Industries India Ltd.

Eveready has started diversifying into other areas. It is already distributing mosquito coils where the challenge for the company is to find new suppliers.

Apart from this, it has identified 10 areas where it would want to diversify.

Eveready’s borrowings were brought down to Rs 378 crore as on March 31, 2006, from Rs 509 crore in the previous year.

The profit before depreciation, interest and taxation from real estate stood at Rs 76.62 crore, an increase of 221 per cent.

Speaking on unlocking value from the company’s land, Khaitan said nothing much is expected this year. But the company would consider it for land available from operations in Chennai, Hyderabad, Noida and Lucknow.

Eveready has closed down a manufacturing unit for raw material for batteries in Thane from March 31, as it had become uneconomical and non-viable.

The unit was based on a 10-12 acre plot and Khaitan refused to comment on its potential for future use.

The battery industry grew 3 per cent last year, while Eveready grew at 7 per cent.

This year Khaitan expects the industry to grow at 8 per cent and Eveready to have a growth of 10 per cent.

Eveready expects to double its net profit from operations during this fiscal.

Khaitan said rising input costs have put pressure on operating margins during the year. Eveready is covered to tackle the increase in zinc prices between April to June 2006.

The company might raise prices in July or August, if zinc prices undergo a correction in June.

“We would want to keep Powercell Battery India Ltd and the Powercell brand as a separate entity and develop it for the future. The company has the potential to carve out a niche for itself and would not rule out the possibility of listing in the future,” Khaitan said.

Eveready hopes to maintain the growth rate of the packet tea division, with a 7000-tonne capacity, between 20 and 25 per cent.