Emami co-founders R.S. Agarwal (centre) and R.S. Goenka (right) with director Viren J. Shah in Calcutta on Saturday. Picture by Rashbehari Das

Calcutta, Aug. 13: The Emami group of companies is considering restructuring its business.

“We could be looking at a reduction in the number of companies so that operational problems become less,” co-founder R.S. Agarwal said on the sidelines of the 28th annual general meeting of Emami Ltd.

Harsha Vardhan Agarwal, director of Emami Ltd, said, “It (the restructuring) is still in the evaluation phase and is yet to be decided. But we could be looking at our real estate presence for the same. We have a number of properties. But it has nothing to do with Emami Ltd.”

The restructuring exercise has already begun in real estate. Yesterday, Zandu Realty, in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, said its board of directors had asked the reorganisation and restructuring committee of the company to explore the feasibility of merger or amalgamation proposals. These include merging Emami Realty, Emami Home Pvt Ltd and Emami Estates with Zandu Realty. The committee will also seek the views of legal advisers and merchant bankers.

Acquisitions are also on the radar. “We are aggressively eyeing acquisitions, both in the domestic and international markets, but at a reasonable price. This will mainly be in the personal and health care verticals in markets such as the CIS countries, West Asia and Africa,” Harsha Vardhan Agarwal said.

Emami today posted a 17.7 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 41.50 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2011, over Rs 35.25 crore reported during the same period last fiscal.

The jump in profit came on the back of a robust growth of some brands such as Navratna Oil, Zandu Balm, Fair and Handsome and Menthoplus Balm.

During the quarter under review, the firm posted a 23.95 per cent increase in sales at Rs 299.91 crore against Rs 241.95 crore in the year-ago period, while the consolidated turnover rose 24 per cent to Rs 300 crore.

The company’s overseas business grew 31.2 per cent to Rs 34 crore during the first quarter. Most of the revenue came from the CIS countries followed by the Gulf and Saarc nations.