Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Thursday, July 15, 2010 -- (Business Wire India)



Castrol India Limited today announced its second quarter results for the period April – June 2010. The company delivered an outstanding performance for the period under review. Net Sales were up 17% to Rs.744 crores compared to the same period during previous year and Profit after Tax grew by 17% to Rs.150 crores. For the half year ended 30th June 2010, Net sales were up by 22% to Rs 1398 crores whilst Profit After Tax increased by 31% to Rs. 268 crores.

The Board of Directors at its Meeting held today, announced an interim dividend of Rs. 7/- per share for the year ended 31st December 2010 (2009 Interim Dividend: Rs 10/- share and 2009 Final Dividend: Rs.15 per share which included a one off special dividend of Rs. 10/- per share to celebrate the centenary year of the Castrol brand in India). The said interim dividend is payable on the Bonus shares allotted on 13th April, 2010.

Commenting on the results, Mr. Naveen Kshatriya – Vice Chairman, Castrol India Limited, said, “Castrol India has delivered an outstanding performance by focusing on its long term strategy of profitable volume growth, improving margins and attacking cost inefficiencies. The company’s performance was aided by a buoyant economy and sustained investment in its brands. In the first half of 2010, our marketing activities were led by an integrated marketing program built around Castrol’s global 2010 FIFA World Cup™ sponsorship and local activation programs for consumers and customers. The company has grown margins through a combination of premium product mix, improved propositions and pricing actions to offset inflation in raw material costs.

During the quarter under review, the company initiated several marketing programmes aimed at connecting with consumers. The Castrol Power1 “Meet Ronaldo campaign” targeted at youth, received good consumer response, positively impacting this high performance motorcycle oil brand. The company also intensified its activities in rural markets with the Sanjeevani programme aimed at directly contacting farmers in 35,000 villages to explain the benefits of Castrol CRB Plus for tractors. In the Independent Workshop segment, the company focused its activities on new account acquisition and up trading consumers to high performance, synthetic lubricants.

Outlook

We expect the economy to maintain the growth momentum with a likely positive monsoon. However, the growth could potentially be impacted due to high inflation and possible high interest rates. Further, with crude at approx $75 -$80/barrel we expect raw material prices to harden, which is likely to impact our margins. Despite this risk, we remain confident of sustainable growth in our financial performance. This is underpinned by superiority of our products, strong customer relationships, continued focus on improving the operational efficiency and sustained investment in brand and organizational capability building. It is supported by the unflinching commitment of our employees, our business partners and our loyal consumers.

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Castrol India Q2 PAT up 17%, at Rs. 150cr, Announces Interim Dividend of 70%