SFLs board of directors has recommended a dividend of Rs 6 per share (60 per cent), which consumes Rs 14.40 crore. The company has a paid-up equity of Rs 24 crore.

Last year, SFLs gross disbursements crossed Rs 1,220 crore as against Rs 1,034 crore in the year before. About 58 per cent of the disbursements were for commercial vehicles, and another 34 per cent for cars and multi-utility vehicles, says SFL managing director G K Raman.

During 2001-02, SFL undertook a clutch of initiatives. Because expenditure on diesel and tyres account for the bulk of a transport operators total costs, SFL introduced special credit delivery systems for these.

In collaboration with Indian Oil Corporation, SFL launched powerplus fleet card, which truck-drivers could use to buy diesel. It also tied up with JK Tyres for offering finance to its customers, who want to buy JKs tyres.

The company also launched a portal for freight exchange (www.infreigh.com), on which trucking capacity could be offered and bought. The portal is run by a joint venture company called InFreight Technologies India Pvt Ltd, in which SFL is a partner.

Besides, SFL also created a division called Sundaram Business Services, which would render a host of services such as employee administration, deposit and credit processing, handling cheques and insurance matters and accounting for other companies, the TVS group companies to start with.