Castrol to Become an Official Sponsor of FIFA World Cup

Castrol has strengthened its position in football by signing a prestigious six-year deal as a FIFA World Cup Sponsor until 2014.
The agreement awards the global lubricants company worldwide rights for the 2010 FIFA World CupT in South Africa, the 2014 FIFA World CupT in Brazil and the two FIFA Confederations Cups which fall within the 2007-2014 period.
The news comes following the company's successful sponsorship of the recent European championships - the UEFA EURO2008 - which saw Castrol develop the Castrol Performance Index, a new tool which helps football fans to objectively analyse individual player and team performances.
"Our investment in football has proved a tremendous success and allowed Castrol to develop new opportunities in a way that has added value to our business partners; excited and rewarded our fans; and motivated our staff," said Senior Vice President for Lubricants, Mike Johnson.

Commenting on the announcement, FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, said "With Castrol, we are delighted to welcome a committed football supporter into our global sponsorship family. The FIFA World Cup, with more than 26 billion TV viewers, attracts massive involvement from fans and non-fans alike, who are drawn to the drama and excitement that comes with top national-team football. With its new Performance Index, Castrol has enhanced the fans' experience with exclusive data on the players' speed, efficiency and performance in matches. The index was developed with renowned football experts such as Arsène Wenger, Ottmar Hitzfeld and Emilio Butragueño and it underlines Castrol's passion for the game,"
"This partnership not only highlights FIFA's confidence in South Africa and Brazil as the host nations, but also shows that the global business community believes in the incredibly positive impact the events will have," Blatter added.

Through the creation of the Castrol Performance Index, Castrol was able to showcase the importance of the brand's core values of passion, technical progress and performance in a way that was both innovative and engaging.
Also commenting on the deal, Castrol ambassador Arsene Wenger said "I chose to work with Castrol because its football sponsorship went beyond simply ticket promotions and branding. The development and launch of a new performance index was something which really interested me, and I was impressed by the way they used their experience in improving vehicle performance to champion the objective measurement of players and teams."

The FIFA World CupT sponsorship is the biggest in the company's 100-year history and will help Castrol continue to modernise its brand to deliver even more powerful and relevant offers for its consumers, which include a simplified product range and new technology benefits.
The connection with events such as the 2010 FIFA World CupT in South Africa and the 2014 FIFA World CupT in Brazil provide a route to a mass football audience that overlaps strongly with the brand's 45 million consumer base. Football fans can look forward to Castrol and FIFA making further announcements about concepts related to their new partnership later this year.

Castrol India Ltd. Launches Castrol Magnatec with Intelligent Molecules

Castrol India Limited today unveiled Castrol Magnatec, a specially formulated engine oil, using synthetic technology, with the unique proposition of “Intelligent Molecules”. The announcement was made at the finals of the Castrol Magnatec Intelligent Corporate Cricket tournament held at the Goregaon Sports Complex in Mumbai.

Elaborating on the launch of Castrol Magnatec, Mr. V. Srikanth, Vice President Marketing, Castrol India Limited explained, “The sales in the mid-segment (segment B and segment C) category of the passenger car segment has seen a surge over the last decade owing to the rapid growth in the personal mobility space. The car owners of this segment are relatively less involved with the maintenance of their car yet seek reliable performance from their vehicle and are willing to pay a premium for the right maintenance and service. Castrol Magnatec has been formulated with synthetic technology that forms a stronger layer of protection from the moment you turn on the ignition thus ensuring that the engine performs at its peak for a longer duration.”

Typically, maximum wear and tear occurs to the engine during start up as the oil drains out if it has been turned off for a long period. The molecules in Castrol Magnatec are attracted to the surface area of the engine and bond to the metal surface thereby making it resistant to damage during start-up. Thus, the unique proposition of intelligent molecules that know where to go.

Speaking on the occasion, Rahul Dravid, Brand Ambassador, Castrol Magnatec, said, “I am happy to be associated with a high performance brand like Castrol that incorporates cutting edge technology in all its products so as to bring out the best performance from the engine. The launch of Castrol Magnatec comes as a good news to those car owners who care about their vehicle and believe in giving the best to their car.”

In an effort to bring about awareness of the launch of Castrol Magnatec among its consumers Castrol India Ltd. had organized the Castrol Magnatec Intelligent Corporate Cricket tournament. More than 200 corporates were targeted across Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore for this activity. On the 13th and 14th of October, corporate India padded up to compete in the Castrol Magnatec Intelligent cricket. Vijay Yadav (ex Wicket Keeper) of India with his team of Ranji trophy players as the match consultants, Umpires of international repute and the perfect pitches, the teams battled it out on the field. Some of the big Corporate names included the likes of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Standard Chartered, Accenture, Times of India , Star News, Sahara , ABN Amro , Axis Bank, Jet Airways , HLL, IBM, Airtel, Hero Honda, Yamaha, Alcatel, Siemens, Infosys, Dell, Zee TV and a host of others. The finals today saw a tough fight by the Magnatec Champs of all four regions Mumbai – ICICI, Delhi – Make My Trip, Bangalore - AXA Business Services & Kolkatta- DPSC. AXA - Business Services from Bangalore put up a winning performance and received their trophy from Rahul Dravid and have won a team trip to Egypt.

About Castrol India Limited

Castrol India Limited is a public limited company in which 70.92 % of the paid-up capital is held by Castrol Limited, U.K which is a part of BP Group worldwide. Starting off as a trading unit in India, Castrol has grown to become the largest lubricant company in the retail automotive segment. Castrol has constantly demonstrated its commitment to Indian consumers by offering world class products, backed by the highest level of customer service. Castrol India is acknowledged as the technology leader in the Indian lubricant industry.

For more on Castrol India, visit www.castrol.co.in

Castrol India Limited Announces Unaudited Financial Results for the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2007

Castrol India Limited, market leader in the retail automotive lubricant segment, today declared its 3rd quarter results for the period July – September 2007. Profit Before Tax during the period was at Rs.86 crores – an increase of 107% against a PBT of Rs. 41 crores during the same period last year. Profit After Tax was also higher by 60% from Rs.34 crores during July – September 2006, to Rs.54 crores during the same period this year. Net Sales for the quarter was up by 3%, from Rs.419 crores in 2006 to Rs.431 crores in 2007.

Commenting on the results, Mr. Naveen Kshatriya, Managing Director, said, “the results reflect the loyal patronage of our premium products by our discerning customers, trade, workshops and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). We are proud to offer the most contemporary, world class products, backed by leading edge innovation and technology. Our consumers appreciate the quality and value propositions of Castrol brands like Edge, Magnatec, Activ 4T and Power1. Castrol CRB, India’s largest selling multigrade diesel engine oil marks its 75th year in the Indian market, continuously upgrading with vehicle technology.”

Mr. Kshatriya also emphasized the increasing strength of the relationships with key partners like OEMs and channels. Speaking about the vital role of relationships in Castrol’s performance, Mr. Kshatriya said, “As much as we focus on revitalizing our products, we continuously work at rejuvenating and strengthening our win-win relationships with valued OEM partners like Tata Commercial Vehicles Division, Tata Passenger Cars, Mahindra and Mahindra, Ford, JCB and L&T. We have also entered into a new partnership agreement with Volvo Cars who have just launched their vehicles in India. Going forward, we will continue to explore more strategic alliances.

To strengthen our connect with end users like bikers, car and truck owners, we have refreshed and upweighted our campaigns in media and on ground, focusing communication on product benefits and technology. We have also recently launched Castrol Magnatec – a high technology, part synthetic engine oil for passenger cars.

The company is also moving up the service value chain through service formats like Castrol BikeZone, a chain of franchised multi-bike servicing outlets spread across the country. Castrol BikeZone customer base has doubled in the last 12 months and is now set for faster paced expansion.

Outlook for the future

The operating margins of the business have become healthier and are likely to be sustained at the current levels. The overall market outlook continues to be mildly positive with a satisfactory monsoon and good growth in the passenger car sector, contrasted by declining new vehicle sales of commercial vehicles and motorcycles. With more efficient engine technology, the volume consumption of lubricants will continue to decline. This will be offset by adoption of higher technology, high value products where Castrol has leadership positions. Castrol focus will therefore continue to remain on technology led value growth.

In addition, crude prices have increased dramatically during the quarter and this could lead to input costs going up as well as demand for commercial vehicle lubricants going down if diesel prices go up.

Naveen Kshatriya
CEO & MANAGING DIRECTOR

About Castrol India Limited

Castrol India Limited is a public limited company in which 70.92 % of the paid-up capital is held by Castrol Limited, U.K which is a part of BP group of companies worldwide. Starting off as a trading unit in India, Castrol has grown to become the largest specialist lubricant company. Castrol has constantly demonstrated its commitment to Indian consumers by offering world class products, backed by the highest level of customer service. Castrol India is acknowledged as the technology leader in the Indian lubricants industry.