Carborundum,Universal Autofoundry

A part of the Murugappa group, the company had a flat set of numbers for Q1FY15. Consolidated net sales YoY, rose 3% at Rs.516 crore and net profit for the quarter came in at Rs.27 crore, down 3%. Higher operating costs, lower other income affected the bottomline though a 26% drop in tax outgo helped contain the fall to just 3%.

The company has three segments – abrasives, ceramics and electrominerals. In terms of revenue growth, it was abrasives which was the biggest contributor at 41%, electrominerals at 39% and ceramics at 22%. But in terms of contribution to bottom line, ceramics showed the nest improvement in margins, though both, electrominerals and abrasives showed a drop. EBIT margin (of net sales) for abrasives for the quarter dipped down sharply from 9.7% to 5.67% (YoY), that of ceramics came in at 14.95% v/s 12.33% while electrominerals was down from 13.33% to 12.87%.

There is no word yet on its proposed greenfield project to expand its fired and castable refractories, which was deferred in FY13 and continues to depend on South African subsidiary, RHI Isithebe Pty and feels for now, this inorganic acquisition will fuel its growth for the coming months. On an equity of Rs.18.78 crore (Re.1 face value), the company is sitting on a reserves of Rs.1085 crore. EPS of the current quarter is at Rs.1.46.