Thejo Engineering targets Africa, South America, Middle East and Australia

Chennai, April 3 (IANS) City-based Rs.150 crore Thejo Engineering Ltd, serving the bulk material handling sector, is focusing on African, South American, Australian and Middle East markets for growth, a top official of the firm said Wednesday.

It is also in the process of completing its expansion plans here, the official said.

“We have bagged two orders in Ghana for our corrosion protection products. The market is encouraging and there is good potential for mill liners in Africa. Our idea is to have Saudi Arabia as the hub for the Middle East market and Brazil for the South American market,” V.A. George, president and CEO, told IANS.

He said Thejo Engineering has a 51:49 joint venture with Hatcon in Saudi Arabia and a wholly owned subsidiary in Australia.

As the company was losing experienced hands to companies in Australia, George said it was decided that a base would be set up there; around Rs.7 crore has been invested in Australia.

“We will be investing another Rs.3 crore in Australia. We have three orders in Australia – two from coal mining companies and one from an iron ore company,” George said.

The Rs.1.72 crore equity-based Thejo Engineering is the first company to list its scrip in the National Stock Exchange’s new small and medium enterprises (SME) platform, EMERGE. It raised Rs.21 crore at an issue price of Rs.402 per Rs.10 share.

According to George, the objects of the issue are being realised with the lining plant to be ready this May, while the polyurethane-based scrapper plant and the new research and development centre have been completed.

“Last year, the revenue from lining was around Rs.9 crore and this year it will be around Rs.22 crore. There is a lot of automation involved, which would contribute to the increased productivity of the plant,” he added.

Queried about the order book position, George said it is around Rs.35 crore and the company is targeting a top line of around Rs.180 crore during 2013-14.

“After a brief lull in the market, the orders have started rolling in. From January onwards, the market has been good,” George said.

He said the revenue mix between products and services is equal now, and exports account for 20 percent of product sales.

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