Talbros, one of India’s largest automobile components makers, reported a 16% increase in its full-year revenue for the year ended March, making it one of the few companies in India to report full-year growth.
Full-year growth was made possible by a whopping 73% jump in revenues for the fourth and final quarter than ended in March 2021.
The strong improvement in sales also reflected in a 70% increase in net profit for the year to Rs 24.4 cr, with nearly half of it coming in the final three months. Fourth-quarter PAT was up nearly five times at Rs 12.7 cr, versus Rs 2.4 cr last year.
The company was able to buckle the general trend by channeling some of its sales to the overseas markets, even as demand remained uncertain in India.
Exports raised its share in the company’s full-year revenue to 25% in FY21 compared to 21% in the year previous, while sales to Indian auto makers fell to 64% from 68% in the previous year.
Joint MD Anuj Talwar said the company’s strategy of not focusing purely on a single segment or market category came to its rescue during a ‘challenging year’.
“Our hedged approach to business in terms of multi products, multi segment and our reach in domestic and exports market allowed us to grow topline and profitability. We were successful in adding orders from domestic and international OEMs and that is testimony to the product strategy and execution capabilities built over a period,” he said.
Aftermarket sales, via autoparts showrooms, also declined to 5% from 6% as fewer repairs were carried out in a year hurt by COVID-19 lockdowns.
He said the company is seeing some disruption due to the second wave of COVID-19 in India. “However, we are hoping to recover from that as we move on towards next quarter,” he said.
Talwar also commented on the increasing prices of key raw materials used in auto manufacturing, including those of metals and semi-conductors, and said the company has set in motion measures to cut costs and maintain or even improve margins.
Indeed, the company’s EBITDA margins — a measure of the cash profits produced by the business before accounting for wear and tear and financial costs — improved in the just-concluded year to 14.3% of sales from 11% in the preceding year.
Talbros Automotive Components Limited was established in the year 1956 to manufacture automotive and industrial gaskets in collaboration with Coopers Payen of UK.
The company today has an outsized share in gaskets, chassis, rubber products and forgings in India.
The company, which also operates some Mercedes Benz dealership for passenger cars in India, has eight fully and jointly owned manufacturing facilities in India, located at Haryana, Uttarakhand and Maharashtra.
It also has a one materials division in Gurgaon and R&D technology center at Faridabad.
Among the company’s clients are Bajaj Auto, Tata Cummins, Volvo Eicher India, Ashok Leyland, Escorts Group, Force Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Honda, Hyundai, John Deere, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Suzuki, TAFE, Daimler India and Tata Motors.
