Corporate News Page : 3

After a three-year period, Ahmedabad-based textile major Arvind Mills Ltd has finally bounced back into the black by reporting a net profit of Rs 10.05 crore in the last quarter ended March 2002 as against a net loss of Rs.96.29 crore in the same period previous year. The company has turned the corner after undertaking a Rs.2,200 crore debt restructuring resulting in a 60 per cent reduction in their interest out go as well as 23 per cent improvement in their operating margins riding on a resurgence in the denim sales. The company’s sales and operating income for the quarter have gone up by 9.2 per cent to Rs.339.34 crore as compared to Rs.310.75 crore in the same period last year, operating profits (profits before interest and depreciation) climbed 161 per cent to Rs.79.66 crore in the quarter as against Rs.30.5 crore in the same quarter of the previous year.

Goodlass Nerolac Paints Ltd has reported a 21.17 per cent rise in net profit at Rs. 27.36 crore for the fiscal ended March 31, 2002, compared to Rs 22.58 crore in the previous fiscal. The board has recommended a 75 per cent dividend compared to 65 per cent in FY-01, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. The total income in the reporting period increased to Rs 598.13 crore as against Rs 578.13 crore in 2000-01 . it added.

The great Eastern Shipping Co Ltd’s net profit in 2001-02 registered a 17 per cent increase at Rs 207.51 crore as compared to Rs 177.41 crore in the previous year. Income from operations and sales stood at Rs 1,172.43 crore for 2002-02 over Rs 1,080.68 crore in the previous financial year, executive chairman K.M. Sheth said. However, for the fourth quarter ended March 31, the company’s net profit declined by 43.6 per cent at Rs 30.78 crore as against Rs 54.60 crore in same period corresponding year.

Nestle India has reported 55 per cent higher net profit at Rs 61.4 crore for the first quarter ended March 31, 2002 on 17.4 per cent sales growth at Rs 530 crore while warning that market uncertainty was an area of concern. “Despite healthy growth across categories, concern persists regarding the dull economic environment and market uncertainty… The economic environment in the first three months of 2002 continued to be uncertain and consumer confidence remained affected,” a Nestle India release said.

Pharma major Novartis Ltd has posted a 56.22 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 65.3 crore for the year ended March 31 as against Rs 41.8 crore for the previous year. The board has recommended a dividend of 150 per cent at Rs 7.50 per share of Rs 5 each, the company said. Net sales grew 6.7 per cent at Rs 467.7 crore in FY’02 over Rs 438.3 crore in the last financial year. The other income includes Rs 14.24 crore as profit on sale of certain structures and portion of land at Goregoan for Rs 1.5 crore while Rs 2.62 crore was relinquishment of right to development rights certificate in respect of certain portions of property at Goregoan.

Diversified financial services company Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd reported a 11.3 per cent rise in net profit for the year ended March 2002 at Rs 55.19 crore, as compared to Rs 49.60 crore in the previous year.

The company has also initiated steps towards its conversion into a bank, following in-principle approval by Reserve Bank of India, a company release said.

Boards of KPIT Infosystems Ltd (KPIT) and Cummins Infotech Ltd (CIT) on Tuesday approved the merger of the two companies to form a new entity KPIT Cummins Infosystems Ltd. The merged entity would focus on two business segments ---banking & finance and manufacturing. It would continue to provide services in areas like embedded systems and enterprise applications, KPIT and CIT said in a joint statement.

Shipping Corporation of India Ltd (SCI) has declared an interim dividend of 35 per cent for the year ended March 31, 2002. The board of directors at its meeting held on Tuesday declared an interim dividend of 35 per cent on the equity capital for the year ended March 31, SCI said.

The cellular business of the Birla-Tata-AT&T combine now has a new identity. The company on Tuesday launched a new identity and brand called Idea Cellular Ltd, which will be rolled out next week. The company, which is likely to launch its cellular services in the Delhi circle in the next two months, will be using this new brand called which will be represented as !dea.

Steel Authority of India Ltd (Sail) aims at bringing down loss to Rs 800 crore by recording five per cent growth in sales turnover and plans to reduce its workforce by 9,000 during current financial year. According to a memorandum of understanding that Sail signed with the government, spelling out target for 2002-03, Sail aims at a gross margin of Rs 2,110 crore and wants to reduce loss to Rs 800 crore in 2002-03.

Television Eighteen India Ltd (TV18) has posted an 9.7 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 3.48 crore for the financial year ended March 31 as compared to Rs 3.17 crore in the previous year. It said the previous year audited figures are not comparable as the financial year consisted of six months only. However, for the fourth quarter ended March 31, the company’s net profit dipped by 5.92 per cent at Rs 1.25 crore as against Rs 1.33 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal while total income decreased from Rs 9.87 crore to Rs 8.15 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2002.

National Organic Chemical Industries Ltd (Nocil) has suffered a heavy net loss of Rs 70.49 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2002 compared to net profit of Rs 101 crore for the year 2001-02.

The total income for the period under review also declined sharply to Rs 672.31 crore from Rs 889.86 crore in the previous fiscal, they informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. The company posted a net loss of Rs 25.44 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 2002 compared to net profit of Rs 4.3 crore in January-March 2001, while total income for Q4 in FY-02 declined at Rs 105.83 crore from Rs 229.16 crore in the same period last fiscal.

Satyam Computers will recruit 500 people in the next four months to work on embedded software, consulting and packaged software. “We will employ 500 people in the next four months, out of which 100 will be hired for embedded software, 200 for consulting and another 200 will be employed in SAP packaged software”, a company spokesperson said.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will pre-pay expensive World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) loans amounting to Rs 2,500 crore by July to become a debt-free company. ONGC will pre-pay $300 million to World Bank and about $200 million to ADB.

International Finance Corporation (IFC) on Monday indicated that its investment in India would be more than $500 million this year. The private lending arm of World Bank also expressed interest in investing in the proposed Asset Reconstruction Company but said enabling legislations have to be put in place first. “Last few year, our investment in India has been in the range of $300-500 million. I don’t see that number to diminish,” IFC’s director of South Asia department, Mary Ellen Iskenderian

Punjab National Bank has decided to cut interest by 0.25-0.75 per cent on housing loans under floating and fixed option, from May 1. Under floating option, the interest would be reduced to 10.75 per cent from 11.5 per cent on loans repayable up to five years, while it would be 11.0 per cent for loans of 5-20 years and 12 per cent for 20-25 years loan, a Bank release said. Under the fixed option, the interest for loans of five year period would be reduced to 11 per cent from 11.25 per cent, while there would be no changes in interest on loans of 5-20 years and 20-25 years, it said..

The restructuring of Steel Authority of India Ltd (Sail) has run into rough weather with the company facing difficulty in hiving off Salem Steel Plant and Alloy Steel Plant, besides failing to implement the strategic business unit plan. Sail sources said the process of hiving off Salem Steel was hampered due to political interference and opposition by trade unions while there was no taker of the Alloy Steel at Durgapur.

The shareholders of Indal, an Aditya Birla Group company, has approved the merger of the unit with sick Annapurna Foils Limited as part of the rehabilitation process. India sources said that the merger, as part of the orders of the Appelate Authority for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (AAIFR), would become effective from April 1, 2002.

Promoters of BPL Ltd, the Nambiar family along with directors, relatives and friends, have increased their stake by over six per cent to cross 62 per cent between January and March this year. Promoters’ stake was hiked to 62.6 per cent by March 31, 2002 against 55.75 per cent till December 31, 2001, even as the Nambiars had said a corporate restructing is being considered as per which some of the business currently with BPL Ltd may be demerged to rationalize operations and hike shareholder value.

NIIT Ltd on Monday reported a 93 per cent drop in net profit at Rs 5.47 crore for the six months ended March 2002, while the net profit for the second quarter dipped as much as 96 per cent at Rs 2.01 crore, mainly on account of the slowdown. Income from operation was down 59 per cent to Rs 89.03 crore during January-March 2002 as compared to Rs 217.03 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year, while for the six-month (October-March) period, the income declined by 54.8 per cent to Rs 168.29 crore as compared with Rs 372.84 crore in the previous year.

Zee Telefilms Ltd (ZTL) has reported a 24.36 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 104.51 crore for the fiscal ended march 31, 2002. compared to Rs 138.18 crore in the previous fiscal. For the fourth quarter ended March 2002, the net profit dipped by 55.31 per cent at Rs 21.13 crore (Rs 47.29 crore) while sales and services stood at Rs 105.32 crore (Rs 119.81 crore) it added.

On consolidated basis, Zee Network has posted a net profit of Rs 201.68 crore (Rs 174.84 crore) and Rs 59.91 crore (Rs 30.78 crore) in FY-02 and Q4 respectively.

Bharti Televenture on Monday announced a hefty loss of Rs 112.69 crore during 2001-02 compared to Rs 120.80 crore in the previous financial year due mainly to the undertaking of new projects. The service arm of the Bharti group, which raised over Rs 830 crore recently through its maiden public offering of 18.5 crore shares, however, registered a cash profit of Rs 294.82 crore compared to Rs 97.14 crore during the period under consideration. But cash profit during the last quarter (January-March) of 2001-02 dipped by 30 per cent Rs 78.28 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Cipla Ltd reported on Monday its January-March net profit rose 79.6 per cent from a year earlier. Fourth-quarter net profit was Rs 617.1 million or Rs 10.29 per share, up from Rs 343.6 million or Rs 5.73 a share a year earlier. Sales rose 48 per cent to Rs 3.86 billion from Rs 2.61 billion. For the year ended March 31, Cipla reported a net profit of Rs 2.29 billion, up 28 per cent. Net sales rose 32.4 per cent to Rs 13.87 billion.

Crompton Greaves Ltd is back in the black with a net profit of Rs 4.04 crore for the year ended March 31, 2002 against a loss of Rs 73.16 crore in the previous fiscal. Total income for FY’02 rose by 9.58 per cent to Rs 1,485.35 crore as compared to Rs 1,355.49 crore in the last fiscal, the company informed the BSE on Monday. For the fourth quarter ended March 31, Crompton Greaves’ net profit dipped by 94.78 per cent to Rs 70 lakh as against Rs 13.43 crore for the corresponding period last year while the total income declined marginally to Rs 468.58 crore as compared to Rs 469.46 crore in the same period in FY’01.

Wockhardt Limited has posted a net profit of Rs 24 crore for the first quarter of 2002, showing a 37 per cent growth over the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Sales stood at Rs 165 crore, posting a 27 per cent growth over the corresponding period of 2001. Operating profit grew by 26 per cent to Rs 31 crore. On a consolidated basis, sales for the quarter grew by 21 per cent to Rs 185 crore and profit after tax rose by 34 per cent to Rs 26 crore

Pharma major Nicholas Piramal India Ltd’s net profit is up 39 per cent at Rs 92.47 crore for the year ended March 31 as compared to Rs 66.72 crore in the previous year. The board has recommended an 85 per cent dividend for the year ended March 31, 2002. Sales for the reporting year grew by 67 per cent to Rs 946.48 crore as against Rs 566.76 crore in the previous fiscal.

Ranbaxy Laboratories has registered an over 70 per cent increase in its net profit at Rs 9.49 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2002 as compared to the corresponding period last year. The company, having registered a 39 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 25.33 crore for the year ended December 31, 2001, has also recommended a dividend of Rs 10.

Godrej Consumer Products Ltd, created by the demerger of the consumer-care business of Godrej Soaps, has reported total sales of Rs 514.2 crore for FY ’02 up 10 per cent from Rs 468.4 crore in the previous year. The company’s net profit for the year stood at Rs 41.98 crore. In the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2002, sales stood at Rs 124.2 crore. Gross profit before interest, depreciation and tax for the period was Rs 18.5 crore, and profit before tax stood at Rs 15.2 crore. The board of directors of the company has announced a second interim dividend of 87.5 per cent or Rs 3.50 per share for the financial year ending March 31, 2002.

Chemplast Sanmar Ltd has posted a 33.13 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 21.9 crore for the financial year ended March 31 as compared to Rs 16.45 crore in the previous year. The board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 4 per share for the year 2001-02, the company informed the BSE on Monday. Total income for FY ’02 stood at Rs 449.32 crore as compared to Rs 389.01 crore in FY ’01 it said.

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