Pumps and valves maker KSB has reported a 25.91% year-on-year rise in net profit to Rs 37.90 crore while sales rose 20.19% YoY to Rs 444.60 crore during the December ’21 quarter.

The company has seen a rise in demand for its pumps and valves from cement, steel, paper and distillery companies. Rajiv Jain, MD, KSB, and regional executive officer, KSB West Asia, said the market recovery had begun in the second half of 2021 and continues to date. Record orders were seen in January’22 and February ’22, he said.

KSB plants were now operating with the entire workforce back at work and this had boosted output, he said. Growth was seen in both domestic and export markets. Exports account for around 20% of the KSB revenues.

A spurt in orders was seen for Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) systems, which require slurry recirculation pumps. This demand was driven by the government mandate for reduction of sulphur content in the flue gas emission by 30-35% from the 2005 level by 2030. KSB has already bagged total orders worth Rs 100 crore from National Thermal Power Corporation for the supply of giant slurry recirculation pumps in FGD plants to be installed across ten NTPC sites in India. FGD demand was expected to continue through 2022.

The only concern going ahead was rising commodity prices. Between November 2021 and January 2022 commodity prices had stabilized but there has been a spurt in prices from February ’22, Jain said. With the geo political risks rising with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the company will be bracing to deal with volatility in prices and a supply chain issues, he said.

Margins were under pressure with commodity prices rising by 20-25% but the company had managed to pass on 10-15% price increase to customers and managed the rest through internal improvements and cost reductions, Jain said.

During the December ’21 quarter, KSB opened a new facility at Sinnar, Nashik that increase capacity for manufacturing standard pumps business. The logistics operations at it Chinchwad plant to was expanded during this period. The pumps required for FGD applications are being supplied from KSB’s new facility at Shirwal, near Pune. The company had an annual capex of Rs 80-Rs 100 core which would continue in the coming year too, Jain said.

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