CHENNAI: Steel wheels manufacturer Wheels India has planned a capital expenditure of Rs 100 crore this year for the wind energy segment and would set up up a plant near Chennai, a top company official said here on Saturday.
Managing Director Srivats Ram said that the city-based company would also look at investing a 'good portion' for the second phase of the cast aluminium plant. "Wheels India is planning a capital expenditure of Rs 100 crore that will go into the wind segment where we will be setting up a new plant in Thervoy Kandigai near Chennai. We currently have built up capacity for 3.50 lakh wheels and we will be taking this upto 7.50 lakh wheels", he said.
He said that the order book was very strong in the exports segment, continuing from where it was in the fourth quarter of last year. "In the domestic segment, wheels for agri-tractors did very well last year and I believe this will continue to do well this year", he said.
Wheels India declared its financial performance for the quarter and year ending March 31, 2021.
The company registered a net profit of Rs 25.5 crore for the quarter under review, compared to Rs 4.6 crore in the same period last year. Revenues registered during the quarter grew to Rs 853.3 crore as against Rs 544.7 crore registered during the corresponding period last fiscal.
The board has recommended a dividend of Re one per share.
For the financial year ending March 31, 2021 net profits stood at Rs 6.7 crore as against Rs 54.1 crore registered in the same period last fiscal. Revenues recorded for the year ending March 31, 2021 stood at Rs 2,215.50 crore, compared to Rs 2,438.70 crore in corresponding period last year.
The company said during the third quarter of last year, it began the first shipment of cast aluminium wheels to the United States from its facility near Chennai.
On the financial performance, Ram said, "While the first quarter of last year was a washout due to the national lockdown, there was strong demand in the latter part of the year with a recovery in most of our business segments by the fourth quarter. While the domestic tractor business showed strong growth in the last three quarters, we saw growth in export business in FY22."