No impact on Emami image: Agarwal

"I do not think there is any impact on our image as is evident in our results," Aditya Agarwal, director, Emami, told reporters today at the 29th AGM.

Emami posted 12% growth in net profit to Rs 47 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2012 over the corresponding period last year. Net sales grew by 14% to Rs 339 crore during the quarter. This was the first public appearance of the promoters including co-founder R S Agarwal and managing director R S Goenka, after the incident.

In one of worst hospital fires in the country, a pre-dawn blaze at Kolkata's AMRI Hospital had killed over 90 people on December 9.

N H Bhansali, chief executive officer said Emami Ltd has just 3%stake in AMRI hospitals.

Emami Director Harsh V Agarwal said there had been no impact "on our acquisition plans and we continue to look at opportunities both in the domestic and international market.

Bhansali said the company was eyeing opportunities for greenfield expansion for its personal and healthcare products in Assam. The company plans to invest close to Rs 50 crore for the project.

This apart, the company has also earmarked Rs 100-125 crore towards brownfield and greenfield projects this year and the company is in the process of identifying land in Assam for its manufacturing facility.

"We are in the process of identifying land. We hope to finalise by the end of this year," Bhansali said. On the overseas front, Emami is setting up manufacturing units in Egypt and Bangladesh. These units would be operational by the end of this year, he said. "Overseas business accounts for 13% of our total sales. We expect it to remain stable at 14-15% on an increased turnover this year," he said.

Emami is also rationalising its operations in certain overseas markets like Africa. "We are in the process of doing some corrections in the overseas markets to bring down the inventory of stocks," he said.

Emami's revenue from international business grew over 27% to Rs 34 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, it said in a statement.

"Emami has recorded substantial growth from its power brands like Navratna Oil, Zandu Balm, Fair and Handsome and Menthoplus Balm," the company said.

Brand extension Navratna Extra Thanda Oil also did extremely well, it added.

During the quarter, the company said its healthcare division comprising over the counter (OTC) and generic products registered strong sales led by Zandu Pancharista, a digestive syrup.

Shares of Emami today closed at Rs 499.15 on the BSE, down 1.61% from their previous close.