Crompton Greaves Q3 profit rises to Rs199.6 core

Crompton Greaves' third quarter net profit rose to Rs 199.6 crore as against Rs 123.2 crore in the same period last year. Net sales stood at Rs2,246 crore as compared to Rs2,149.8 crore YoY.

The board of the electrical equipment manufacturer has recommended issue of three bonus shares for every four held and has also declared an interim dividend of Rs1.40 per share.

This is the third of Crompton Greaves' bonus issues. Earlier the company had issue 1:1 bonus in January 1990 and a 2:5 bonus in December 2006.

The board of the company has also approved divesting the company's 59 per cent stake in Malanpur Captive Power to Avantha Power & Infrastructure (APIL), at Rs46.63 per share aggregating to Rs51.4 crore.

It has also approved amalgamation of Brook Crompton Greaves with the company, which will be effective from 1 April 2009.
The company manufactures and markets power systems, consumer products and industrial equipment and systems.

Promoters have pledged more than 85.89 lakh shares representing 2.34 per cent of the equity capital of the company and the total promoter shareholding in the company is 40.92 per cent as at 31 December 2009.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, SM Trehan, MD, Crompton Greaves, in response to a question regarding fund raising for the power side of the business that might involve raising equity through an initial public offering (IPO) said the company had enough cash currently.

''We are a net cash surplus company taking into account cash with us and the borrowings and at our overseas entities also standalone we are hugely surplus company. So we do not see for the next 15-18 months at least any need for an IPO or fund raising because our internal generations are pretty strong.''