Transformer manufacturer Voltamp Energy is expecting to begin commercial production at its new Sohar plant by the third quarter of 2011, provided its trial transformer, currently under construction, passes its testing process.
The company is expecting its first sale in November to Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC) - part of a four-unit order placed by OETC in December 2010, said Alok Bhargava, chief executive officer, Voltamp.
Bhargava added that the company should begin commercial production by October this year, with the plant anticipated to reach full capacity in 2014. "We will only reach full capacity in three years' time. We have started our trial operations and we will send the transformer for testing to a laboratory.
"If we are able to send the transformer for testing by August, and it is cleared as planned, commercially we should be there by the third quarter," he said. The prediction comes after production in the first quarter of 2011 was disrupted by unrest at the Rusayl Industrial Estate, with a similar disruption in Sohar causing the postponement of the new plant's inauguration, which was originally slated for March 23.
Despite the company recording an 11 per cent rise in first-quarter revenues, jumping from RO3.35mn in 2010 to RO3.72mn in 2011, profits were hit by a 16 per cent rise in expenses over the same period, growing from RO2.68mn in 2010 to RO3.13mn in 2011. As a result, net profit for the first quarter dropped 20 per cent from RO648,108 in 2010 to RO514,299 in 2011.
However, Bhargava remains upbeat about the company's prospects for 2011, adding that Voltamp has a 'comfortable' order book and has factored in the initial costs needed in order to establish its new Sohar facility.
© Muscat Daily 2011
