Mumbai, Jan 8: Sterlite Optical Technologies (SOTL), the demerged entity of Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd has kick started its new year with a 101 per cent increase in its net profit in the second quarter of the financial year ended December 31, 2000. SOTL has registered a net profit of Rs 89.46 crore in the second quarter as compared to Rs 44.52 in the same quarter last year.The BSE, however, did not seem to be enthused with SOTL's performance. SOLT's stocks opened on the BSE at Rs 876.75 reached a high of Rs 897, but suddenly dived to Rs 818 before closing at Rs 830.10 - a loss of 5.32 per cent as against the previous days close.The company has registered a 40 per cent increase in sales for the second quarter ended December 31 to Rs 322.22 crore from 229.36 crore in the last year. The company's exports have leapfrogged from Rs 1.82 crore in the second quarter last year to Rs 123.05 crore in the same period this fiscal.Compared to an overall growth of 40 per cent in sales turnover, sale of optic fiber and cable grew by 192 per cent and contributed to 62 per cent of the total turnover compared to 30 per cent in the corresponding quarter last year.Optical fiber cable sales grew by 219 per cent over the corresponding quarter of the previous year. SOTL chairman Anil Agarwal has said this was due to the company's conscious strategy to increase the sale of optic fiber in cabled form.For the quarter ended December 31, 2000, jelly filled telephone cable sales accounted for around 38 per cent of the total sales compared to 70 per cent in the previous corresponding quarter.SOTL's profit before interest depreciation and tax (PBIT) increased by 81 per cent to Rs 102 crore. The company's operating margins stood at 31.52 per cent as against 24.60 in the corresponding quarter last year.The company recently announced plans to put up a 10 million cable km optical fiber greenfield plant at an estimated cost of $250 to $300 million. Nearly 75 per cent of the new project is to be funded through internal accruals.SOTL had already announced its intentions to set up its base in the US. Almost 90 per cent of its revenue come from exports.The expansion is in view of the high demand growth for optical fibre in all major international markets. The expansion will enable SOTL to offer larger volumes to strategic international customers on a long term basis.The first phase, with a capacity of 5 million kilometer, will go onstream by 2002. SOTL is targeting the high growth US markets for exports. Global prices have increased in the past months from a low of $25 per fiber kilometer to the current level of over $65 per fiber kilometer. The market is said to be in an extremely tight demand-supply situation with demand on the higher side.The company has a present capacity of 3 million kilometer. With the green field project, the company will have a total capacity of over 13 million kilometers of commercial production of OFC by 2003.The board of directors also recently passed an enabling resolution to raise upto $200 million from the international markets.The SOTL board has also recently approved a proposal to access international markets by way of American Depository Receipts or Global Depository receipts (ADRs or GDRs) or other financial instruments. The amount can be raised in one or more tranches.The board of Sterlite Optical Technologies will increased the sterngth of its board from the present three to six. The board has approved the appointment of Sundeep H Junnarkar and Gautam B Doshi in to the board of the company. The company will induct a third member shortly.
