*The JV, which will be 65% owned by Voltas and 35% by the Sultan group, may also set up a joint liability company.*
Airconditioning and cooling products maker Voltas Ltd, part of the diversified Tata Group, has signed a joint venture with the Mustafa Sultan Enterprises LLC of Oman, a top official said on Friday. "The joint venture will facilitate Voltas's entry into Oman in the electromechanical segment," said M.M. Miyajiwala, chief financial officer told Reuters, referring to Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing services (MEP). The joint venture, which will be 65 percent owned by Voltas and 35 percent by the Sultan group, may set up a joint liability company which will then become a unit of Voltas. "We are looking to expand operations in Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia," Miyajiwala said. Voltas also plans to spend 500-600 million rupees in FY11 as capital expenditure, he added. The firm also said in a statement that it won an order worth 8 billion rupees for modernising Abu Dhabi's central market and had an orderbook of 47.2 billion rupees as of March end. Voltas reported a rise of 51 percent in consolidated net profit of 3.85 billion rupees in FY10 on a rise of 11 percent in net sales of 48.06 billion rupees. "Our electromechanical business and unitary cooling business showed a healthy revenue rise..we did however witness some slowdown in the engineering products and services segment due to reduced capex spending by companies during the slowdown," Miyajiwala said. The firm's unitary cooling products business saw a rise of 30 percent in sales of room air-conditioners and a rise of 25 percent in refrigeration products aided by a considerable pick-up in demand for consumer durables in India. Voltas also has current cash reserves of 2.1 billion rupees in India and an additional 4-5 billion rupees from its Middle East business, Miyajiwala said. He also added that the firm was looking for acquisitions but is only eyeing smaller assets. The firm's overseas operations currently contribute to over 41 percent of the total revenues. Shares of the firm on Friday ended 0.56 percent up at 171.9 rupees in a strong Mumbai market. -- Regards Hardik Shah -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""GLOBAL SPECULATORS"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalspeculators?hl=en.
