Prakash Steelage mulls price hike in April

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Prakash Kanugo, chairman and managing director, Prakash Steelage said that the pressure on the raw material side would not have any effect on the company. "This is because we book order from the customer and back to back we book raw materials from Jindal Steel and other companies," he added.

However, the company would be looking to push up prices in the April quarter. Below is the verbatim transcript of Bansal's interview with Latha Venkatesh and Gautam Broker of CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying video. Q: Can you take us through what the raw material price position is for both the stainless steel and the other divisions of your company. Are the raw material pressures building up and are you able to pass it on? A: The raw material position is okay now but sometimes the market is going up and down as far as the nickel prices are concerned. But, it will have no effect on us because we book order from the customer and back to back we book raw materials from Jindal Steel and other companies. Q: In your last quarter, you saw fall in your profit as well as in your operating margins how will Q4 fair? Will you continue to see a fall in your margins, will you operate at 7-8% or even lower? A: This time our EBITDA is around Rs 38 crore and percentage wise, it is 10%. Q: Are you expecting that you will be able to push up prices in the April quarter? A: Yes, definitely. Q: How much are you exporting and how much is there in the domestic market? A: We are exporting around 25-30%. Q: What kind of growth would you be looking at in terms of revenues going forward? A: Our topline growth is around 22-25% . Q: You have signed an agreement with US company for a forging unit, does this increase your capacity? A: Yes, definitely. It increases our topline and bottomline both.