SKF India Reports Third Quarter

SKF India Ltd. (formerly SKF Bearings India, a publicly-traded, 54%-owned subsidiary of SKF AB, Sweden) announced strong third quarter 2004 results, along with expansion plans for the future. The company indicated it has taken on a more aggressive expansion track, now officially targeting market growth by acquisition in addition to organic sales growth. SKF is the largest bearing manufacturer in India, with an overall 29% market share across OEM and replacement sales. Third quarter sales were up 26%, to Rs 1.5 billion (USD $33.3 million), from Rs 1.2 billion ($26.7 million) a year ago. Net profits were even stronger, up 70%, at Rs 153 million ($3.4 million), from Rs 90 million ($2 million) in 2003. The Press Trust of India quotes an unnamed company director, saying SKF wants to be more involved with the domestic Indian automobile manufacturing industry as a growing market opportunity. To that end, SKF India is primarily seeking automotive bearing-related acquisitions. Sune Axelsson, SKF Director of Finance, said SKF India is operating on a target sales growth rate for the current fiscal year of no less than 25%. Earlier this year, SKF India acquired the 50-employee Vibration Engineers and Consultants Pvt. Ltd., in an effort to leverage its market position and diversify into more value-added services as it has done in other countries and markets. "We continue our focus on providing complete solutions to our customers. Our new Global Application Development Center in Bangalore is nearing completion and will help us bring new products faster to the market. We are also putting our organization in place to market Lubrication Systems, as a result of Willy Vogel¡¯s acquisition into the SKF Group," said Rakesh Makhija, Managing Director, SKF India Ltd. SKF employs over 2,000 people in three manufacturing facilities in India. While the automotive, two-wheeler and export markets account for a growing proportion of sales, the company is also focusing on increasing sales through its network of 225 distributors across the country.