Other companies have engaged the services of management consultants to identify areas of cost savings for potential clients.

Kolkata:Battery maker Eveready Industries India Ltd (EIIL) plans to monetize surplus and underutilized land to strengthen its balance sheet.

The planned sale of surplus land is expected to reduce total outstanding liabilities of Rs 20,020 crore further strengthening the company’s balance sheet. Part of the proceeds will also be used to fund EIIL’s growth plans. The Board of Directors of the battery maker has approved the management’s proposal to monetize the remaining land assets in Kolkata and Hyderabad over the next 12 to 18 within a month.

The company has engaged management consultants to identify areas of potential cost savings.

Eveready Industries reported a standalone loss of Rs 16.12 crore in the fourth quarter due to a sharp rise in operating costs. Net profit for the previous quarter was Rs 10,466.6 crore. The annual net profit for the financial year 2017-18 was Rs 54.73 a year ago and Rs 936.3 crore.

Employee costs rose 18% in the quarter and 17% for the full year due to diversification of resource spends on specialty lighting, appliances, confectionery, etc, the company said in a stock exchange filing. Spending on advertising and promotion rose 66% in the quarter and accounted for 6.1% of sales, compared with a 4.2% increase in the same period last year.

The company’s press release said the company’s operating profit rose 15 percent in the quarter, but gross margins fell about 200 percent a basis point, as growth came mostly from the consumer electronics category, which still has better margins than other mature categories. Much lower.

In addition, “Battery sales grew 2.5% in nominal terms in the quarter, while annual sales were flat. Sales in this segment, which were initially low due to a high excise tax rate of 28%, have declined 18% since 11% Since mid-month.” % until mid-November. This provided some stimulus for subsequent growth, but the recovery has been slow.

The category was also disrupted by discarded products from China. Although gross margins declined by 114 a basis point due to higher raw material costs and the elimination of financial benefits in the Haliva division, the division continued to be profitable and remained the backbone of the company’s revenues, partially offset by its new development division. Assam is complete.