Bharat Forge Ltd. Business Report FY ended Mar. 2013

Business Highlights

Financial Overview

-The Company's consolidated sales in the FY ended March 31, 2013 decreased 8.7% from the previous FY from INR 63,706 million to INR 58,148 million. The Company's EBITDA also dropped 16.7% from INR 10,780 million to INR 8,978 million. 

-The Company's stand-alone domestic sales in the FY ended March 31, 2013 decreased 18.9% to INR 15,025 million from the previous fiscal year while its stand-alone export sales declined 8.5% to INR 15,866 million. The decrease in sales was due to a sharp decline in demand in both the automotive and industrial sectors towards the end of the year.

Recent Development Outside India

<USA>
Closure of Bharat Forge America
-In November 2012, Bharat Forge America Inc. (BFA), a subsidiary of the Company, closed its manufacturing operations due to sustained losses. Most of the existing business of BFA was transferred to India, protecting the business within the Group. All assets of BFA were sold in May 2013 for USD 11.25 million. The loss incurred by the Company due to discontinued business was INR 168 million.

R&D

R&D Expenditure

(in million INR)
  FY ended Mar. 31, 2013 FY ended Mar. 31, 2012 FY ended Mar. 31, 2011
R&D Expenditure 147.2 88.9 75.2
Total Turnover (On a stand-alone basis) 32,428.5 37,535.4 29,935.5
Total R&D Expenditure as a % of Total Turnover 0.5% 0.2% 0.3%

R&D Activities

-R&D activities which the Company focused on in the FY ended March 31, 2013 include the following
  • Optimization of crankshaft design for better strength to weight ratio
  • Re-engineering crankshafts to reduce forging complexity and improve dynamic balancing
  • Weight reduction of front axle beams and steering knuckles
  • Optimization of die design to improve material yield
  • Study of the correlation between the endurance strength of raw materials and machined crankshafts