Sanjeev Aga, MD, Aditya Birla Nuvo, says that almost every business of the company has grown by 30 to 45 per cent YoY. CNBC-TV 18 shares with domain-b details of its snap interview with Sanjeev Aga and Adesh Gupta, CFO.

Give us the key highlights of the performance?
Aga: We had a solid Q1, our turnover for Q1 is Rs 1,460 crore, which is almost 90 per cent higher than last year and our profits have also doubled from Rs 33 crore to Rs 66 crore. The turnover is not completely comparable because during last year we had increased our stake in some businesses and have also had an amalgamation. But even if one has to compare, almost every business has grown by 30 per cent to 45 per cent on a YoY basis. So we are very pleased.

Do you see the robust growth continuing in the next quarter? Any cost pressure that you are witnessing in any of these businesses?
Aga: We also create our own cost pressures to stay ahead of competition but nothing in particular. We look forward to the coming quarter.

Could you give us a rundown on major businesses which have done well?
Gupta: Practically all the businesses have done well. Garments have done well based on the performance of the brands, carbon black was supported by higher domestic demand and higher realisations. Even in the case of textiles, last year we have put in a full combing plant and even vested yarns have helped in doubling the profit there.

In the case of telecom, our share has gone up from 4 per cent to 35 per cent because of acquisitions from AT&T and Tata's, which has helped us in increasing the telecom share of the profit. The only missing point is in the case of life insurance, where we have slipped a bit and there the losses have increased.

If you could throw a bit more light on Madura Garments and expansion plans there. How is the product range doing?
Gupta: We are increasing our retail presence, which is helping us. We are putting in almost 1,20,000 square feet of retail space in the next one-two year's time. In case of Louis Philip, we are raising our price points and making it a top brand and there the growth rate is over 25 per cent. Even in the case of Allen Solly and Van Heusen, we have similar growth backed by higher volumes. This is the case with Peter England also.

Any chance of a tie-up with any other retail company?
Gupta: Last year we have had one with Espirit and we would like to increase that presence. Other than that, we are not exploring any kind of tie-up in this business.

Now that you have completed the Idea stake, is there any chance of private placement? A lot of talk has been going on for a private placement of a strategic stake of Idea?
Gupta: In our press release, we had mentioned that eventually it will approximately be 33 per cent. Today we hold 98 per cent and it will come down to between 65-66 per cent and about 33 per cent will be placed with financial institutions at the same price. But in terms of timing, identity, I will not be able to say anything.

Anything that would be possible in the next few months?
Aga: I will not be able to comment on that.

Any outlook that you would like to give for the next quarter?
Aga: Telecom Idea is doing well and I think by the end of July we should be at nine million subscribers. The company is doing well in terms of subscriber growth, revenue enhancement and in terms of profits. We have also applied for licenses for other parts of India. So we are looking to expand our presence and market share both in existing and new circles. We are very optimistic.

You have talked about the financing cost for Idea stake, has that been a major hit to the bottomline or so?
Aga: There is a borrowing from Aditya Birla Nuvo to finance that stake, which has impacted our profit and loss for the quarter. But despite that extra interest we have still shown an improvement in total profitability and that is why I said it has been a good quarter for Aditya Birla Nuvo.