Apollo Tyres crosses targeted turnover of Rs 2000 crore

Company press release, April 1, 2003

New Delhi

Apollo Tyres Limited (ATL), one of India's leading tyre manufacturers, announced a significant milestone by achieving a sales turnover of over Rs 2000 crore for the fiscal year 2002-03. The company closed its books as of March 31 and announced the unaudited provisional figure.

In terms of volumes, Apollo Tyres has grown by over 21%, in the largest category of Truck & Bus tyres. Apollo has also consolidated its leadership status in Jeep, with 10% growth, and Light Commercial Vehicles with 35% growth. In the fast growing passenger car tyre segment Apollo has outpaced the industry with a whopping growth of 47%.

Exuberant at the achievement, OS Kanwar, Chairman & MD, Apollo Tyres Limited said, "This is a proud moment for all of us at Apollo Tyres. In line with the corporate objectives, we have achieved the target that we set out for in the beginning of the year. Our next milestone is to touch Rs 5000 crore by the year 2005-2006". He added, "We are committed to making Apollo Tyres a high performance company with strong business fundamentals and excellent products & services that will bring consistent value to our shareholders".

Neeraj Kanwar, COO, Apollo Tyres Limited said, "We have focused aggressively on the high growth Commercial segment that today constitutes over 90 % of the total tyre market". He added, "The turnover is the result of our three pronged strategy of:

- enhanced operations management through capacity utilization and inventory rationalization

- strategy to expand dealer network and offer one stop shop solutions to customers

- introduction of new product lines

The growth has further been fuelled by growth in the infrastructure and housing segment. The recovery in core sectors like cement, steel and automotives has positively impacted the tyre industry.

The company had identified five major thrust areas to realize its corporate objective. These are Capacity optimization, Cost reduction, Offering New Products, Enhancing the distribution network, Partnerships and alliances to augment customer service.

About Apollo:

Apollo Tyres Ltd. is a Rs 2000 crore, high performance company that makes India's most reliable tyres. Apollo is built around the core principles of creating shareholder value through reliability in its products and dependability in its relationships with its stakeholders. The company has a network of over 7000 dealerships of which over 3500 are exclusive outlets under the brand name 'Apollo Tyre World'.

For details contact:

Reshma Sehgal

Genesis Public Relations

30 AR Complex,

RK Puram, Sector - XIII

New Delhi 110 066