Apollo Tyres has become the first tyre company in India to achieve an annual turnover of $2.5 billion(Rs121.5 billion), witnessing a 37% growth year-on-year during 2011-12. Addressing media persons, Apollo chairman Onkar S Kanwar said during the first quarter of  2012-13 financial year ended June 30, net sales of the company rose 12 % to Rs 31.65 billion (£367.5 million) and operating profit increased 48 % year-on-year to Rs 3.61 billion (£41.9 million). Net profit jumped 79 % to Rs 1.38 billion (£16.0 million).
Commenting on the results, company chairman Onkar S Kanwar said: “For the past few quarters, we have been focusing on improving our product and customer mix across geographies. This has enabled us to post incremental revenue increases on a sequential basis in each of the quarters last year, eventually resulting in enhanced profitability in the first quarter of this year. Our leadership in the growing truck-bus radial segment in India along with an increased focus on the replacement market has allowed us to achieve this. The investments made in the Chennai plant two years back on both product and process technology are showing results and have provided us with a superior springboard for the future.”
Expansion plan
He said Apollo proposes to develop its Kalamasseri unit in Kochi, Kerala, India, as an export-oriented unit by investing Rs3,000 million in its expansion.
Kanwar said Apollo has “established a clear leadership” within India’s growing truck-bus radial tyre sector and registered a sector growth of 60 % in the quarter. In South Africa, passenger vehicle tyre sales rose 32 % while the company’s European operations, despite economic conditions within the region, continued to maintain topline growth and profitability expanded by close to 50 %.