Atul Auto’s total sales in December rose 23.4 percent at 3,510 units on a year-on-year basis. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Jitendra Adhia, VP Finance, Atul Auto says the company is likely to sustain the 18.5 percent growth rate for FY14 and expects the momentum to continue going ahead. Shares of the company inched about 4 percent in trade on Wednesday .
The company is likely to introduce 350 KG capacity gasoline three-wheeler in 2014 which can be used with alternate fuel options as well like CNG, LPG and with that hopes to cater urban as well as export market.
Below is the verbatim transcript of Jitendra Adhia’s interview on CNBC-TV18
Q: You have delivered 18.5 percent growth from April to December by way of your sales numbers. Is that sustainable, what are you hoping to end FY14 with?
A: Yes, we expect that we will be able to sustain this growth rate for the current year and we expect this growth momentum will continue for medium term with Atul Auto Ltd.
Q: Given that you are expecting the growth to continue with quite a bit of vigor, with regards to your new production, you had planned 50,000 capacity at an investment of Rs 100 crore, take us through this?
A: The project is currently under evaluation, we are evaluating various options and are likely to surface this project in another quarter or two quarters time. With the current plant capacity, it will get exhausted in another year or so. So, we have to make capacity additions and that is why we have started evaluating the new green field plant.
Q: If you are going in for any kind of capacity addition then what would the funding requirement be and how do you plan on bridging that gap?
A: At the moment, the structuring of funding can be through internal accrual. The company is currently enjoying debt-free status and so, there is enough room for conventional route as well. But we expect that we will be able to get it through our internal accrual and surplus which the company is having right now.
Q: Currently, what do the exports stand at and any plans to increase them?
A: The product that we are having currently is not suitable for overseas market. We are developing the product which is suitable for our export market and expect that company will be able to go in a big way from next fiscal for this overseas market. At the moment, the product that we are manufacturing is suitable for our domestic market only.
Q: Is the company planning to introduce a new model in 2014, if yes, how many, which ones?
A: We are likely to introduce 350 KG capacity gasoline three-wheeler which can be used with alternate fuel options as well like CNG, LPG. With that we will be able to cater urban market as well as export market.
Q: Can you plug in some numbers with regards to the new launches you are looking at?
A: It is premature to disclose the numbers. However, we want to maintain the growth momentum of 20-25 percent year-on-year.
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