The company held its AGM on 17^th July'12 and was addressed by Mr. Shekhar Bajaj Chairman

Key highlights

• During Q1 FY'13, Hercules Hoists reported fall in net sales and PBT by 4% each to Rs 28.09 crore and Rs 10.49 crore respectively. Orders booked during the quarter however increased by 27% to Rs 38 crore y.o.y. Total outstanding order book position as on 1^st July'12 stood at Rs 24.17 crore as against Rs 14.55 crore on 1^st July'11.

• The company reported net sales of about Rs 121 crore for FY'12. Management expects net sales of around Rs 140 crore for FY'13. This includes about Rs 10 crore of turnover from the new crane business.

• Management expects that though the difficult time for the industry will continue, it expects the company to continue to grow despite several challenges.

• Hercules hoists also started manufacturing cranes below 100 tons. There was an auxiliary plant of one of the vendors of the company which was lying idle. The company is utilizing that facility and outsourcing some of the manufacturing process and will sell the cranes under its brand. The outstanding order book as on July'12 also includes some crane orders as well.

• Generally crane business will have a margin of around 10-12%.

• Few purchase department people gave some unauthorized price increases to vendors and when management came to know, they sacked them. This price increase has resulted in an increase of about Rs 1.98 crore in purchase costs. While the same has been included in purchase costs and thus the P&L, management has not paid to vendors at such higher rates. Vendors have moved to the court for arbitration.

• There are no plans regarding the Mulund land which is lying idle. Management has mentioned that at appropriate time they will take a call.

• Company, in FY'12 exported to two countries namely UK and Italy. It is exploring opportunities in countries like Middle East, CIS and SAARC regions.