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Reliance Communications has reported a 3.2 per cent dip in consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 2009, impacted by increased costs and several one-time charges. Its wireless revenue showed a muted growth of eight per cent year-on-year as the company inducted some GSM subscribers under a promotional plan, which offered free minutes of usage for 90 days, Mr S.P. Shukla, President-Personal Business, said in a conference call with analysts. Total expenditure for the quarter shot up by 29.7 per cent to Rs 4,883 crore, against Rs 3,764.3 crore reported in the year ago quarter. Profit from operations, excluding financial charges, and one-time items, slumped by 38 per cent, to Rs 915 crore (Rs 1,486 crore). Financial charges for the quarter rose from Rs 8 crore to Rs 168 crore. Amortisation of compensation under its ESOP programme cost the company Rs 157 crore during the quarter. It has reported a 10.7 per cent dip in wireless average revenue per user to Rs 224 from Rs 251

Profit dropped to Rs 159 crore in the three months ended March 31, 2009, from Rs 2,177 crore in the same quarter a year earlier, the New Delhi-based developer said in a statement. This follows a 69 per cent drop in the third-quarter profit. DLF’s revenues slumped 69 per cent to Rs 1,351 crore from Rs 4,372 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. Earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation also plunged 87 per cent, to Rs 384 crore from Rs 2,849 crore, the company said. During the quarter, revenue from DLF Assets Ltd (DAL) was Rs 322 crore, against Rs 1,845 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2008. DLF received over Rs 800 crore as advance from DAL during the quarter. The company had suspended further sales to DAL and by the end of the fiscal has not fully completed the originally proposed volume of delivery. DLF has estimated that its full-year revenue will see an impact of Rs 688 crore because of the discounts it offered to customers of its residential

Business Standard ICICI won't grow its balance sheet for another year BS Reporters / Mumbai April 30, 2009, 0:20 IST ICICI Bank, the country’s second-largest lender, is not looking to expand its balance sheet for the second year in a row and intends to reduce the share of unsecured loans. he bank expects to still lend at least Rs 30,000 crore, which is close to the loan repayments it gets every year. During 2008-09, the bank’s loan book shrank by 3.2 per cent. “We get a lot of repayments every year, which is close to Rs 30,000 crore and even if we keep our balance sheet constant, we will do at least Rs 30,000 crore of lending, if not more,” Chanda Kochhar, who takes over as managing director & CEO of the bank on Friday, told Business Standard. She said the bank would step up lending after it reworked its cost arithmetic by increasing the share of current and savings bank account (Casa) balances to one-third of the deposit base. “The implementation of my strategy is in two phase

According to a release issued by  Canara Bank  to the BSE, net profit surged nearly 55% to Rs 718.81 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2009, when compard with Rs 464.06 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Total income grew 22.2% to Rs 5,500.35 crore from Rs 4,502.27 crore.

Aban Offshore, the country’s largest offshore oilrig service provider, reported a consolidated loss of Rs 93 crore for the quarter-ended March 2009 despite growing its revenues by over 17 per cent on a year-on-year basis. While waning demand for oil rigs and falling rig rentals resulted in four of Aban’s assets lying idle, the net loss was driven primarily by a one-off asset impairment charge of Rs 151 crore on the capital expenditure incurred on its jack-up rig Murmanskaya. Aban decided to terminate the bareboat charter of the jack-up rig (due for expiry in November) to avoid incurring the added cost, as the rig had been lying idle. Even as Aban’s consolidated quarterly revenues were up 17 per cent over last year, it declined by 8 per cent sequentially led by the idling of its rigs – due to either delay in deploying them (Aban Abraham and Aban Pearl) or completion of their old contracts. Idle assets The company currently has four idle rigs with four more due to near their contract com

ditya Birla Nuvo, with interest in telecom, BPO, garments and insurance, has dipped deeper into the red on the back of high expenses incurred by the insurance business, expansion of cellular operations, cancellation of export orders in the garment segment and shutting down of some non-profitable BPO sites abroad. Mr Ajay Srinivasan, Chief Executive, Financial Services, Aditya Birla Nuvo, said as long as the new premium income grows, the insurance business would be under strain. “For instance, for every Rs 100 we get as premium income (new insurance sold), we have to provide Rs 40 as commission to agents,” he said. The new business premium income from insurance in the fourth quarter was Rs 1,200 crore, while for the full year it was Rs 2,950 crore, he added. Operations in place The BPO business revenue was down 10 per cent at Rs 387 crore (Rs 428 crore) due to three sites in the US being shut down. The company intends to add 400 seats to increase its domestic BPO capacity to 1,000 seats

Bharti Airtel  has announced its fourth quarter numbers of FY09. Its (US GAAP - generally accepted accounting principles) net profit increased 3.7% to Rs 2,239 crore versus Rs 2,159.3 crore on QoQ basis. Its net sales were up 2% at Rs 9,824.5 crore versus Rs 9,633 crore on QoQ basis.Its earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) margin was at 40.7% versus 41%.The company's board has approved stock split from face value of Rs 10 to Rs 5. Its average revenue per user (ARPU) was at Rs 305 versus Rs 324 on QoQ basis. Its minutes of usage (MOU) came in at Rs 485 versus Rs 505. Bharti Airtel reported forex loss of Rs 236 crore versus Rs 220 crore on QoQ basis.

Biocon today posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 24.88 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2009, nearly a 62% decline over the same period a year ago, largely due to losses on account of aligning asset prices to market value.  The company had a net profit of Rs 65.30 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2008.       The consolidated total income of Biocon increased to Rs 486.56 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2009, from Rs 279.22 crore a year ago, Biocon said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.    For the year ended March 31, 2009, the consolidated net profit stood at Rs 93.12 crore as compared to Rs 463.90 crore in Q4 FY'08. Total income increased to Rs 1,673.22 crore in the March quarter of FY'09 from Rs 1,090.20 crore in the year ago period.       The company declared a 60% dividend or Rs 3 per share subject to shareholders approval.   

Aban Offshore  recorded a consolidated net loss of Rs 93.04 crore, whereas it had a net profit of Rs 33.92 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

According to a release issued by  Aditya Birla Nuvo  to the BSE, the firm suffered a net loss of Rs 141.15 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2009 as compared to net loss of Rs 21.84 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2008.  However,the total income has increased by 45.5% to Rs 4,275 crore from Rs 2937.08 crore in the same above mentiond period.

Given that the credit environment is challenging it’s not surprising that the pace of growth at HDFC Bank is slowing down — advances for the March 2009 quarter are more or less at similar levels as they were in the December 2008 quarter. That appears to be a conscious decision and not a bad one since the bank is holding excess government securities and can step up the acquisition of assets as and when the environment is more conducive to lending. Moreover, the bank has sustained the net interest margin (NIM) at 4.2 per cent, which was lower by about 10 basis points sequentially, helped by a larger proportion of current and savings accounts which was up at 44 per cent. In fact the nim has ranged between 3.8 and 4.3 per cent over the last 16 quarters. The growth in the bank’s fee income continues to be remarkably strong, reflecting the tremendous strength of the bank’s corporate clientele. Net profits for the quarter have also been driven by bond gains and some savings in staff costs. Wh

Triveni Engineering & Industries today said it has reported a 10 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 37.77 crore in the second quarter ended March 31, 2009. The company had a net profit of Rs 34.28 crore in the quarter ended March FY'08, Triveni Engineering said in a statement. Net sales rose by 21 per cent to Rs 457.58 crore in the latest quarter from Rs 378.27 crore in the corresponding year- ago period. For the six months ended March 31, 2009, Triveni Engineering posted a net profit of Rs 61.75 crore as compared to Rs 59.96 crore. During the period, net sales rose to Rs 823.03 crore from Rs 725.21 crore earlier.

Auto components maker Bosch Ltd today reported a 69.46% decline in its net profit at Rs 49.38 crore in the first quarter ended March 31, 2009.       The company had a net profit of Rs 161.72 crore in the March quarter of FY'08, Bosch said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.  Total income decreased to Rs 1,013.27 crore in the latest quarter from Rs 1,233.65 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.      

Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd on Friday reported a loss of Rs 777.77 crore, on a stand alone basis, for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009, against a profit of Rs 131.4 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. This is primarily due to foreign exchange losses. Ranbaxy’s consolidated revenues have been hit by the ban imposed by the US Food and Drug Administration on 30 drugs manufactured by the company at its Paonta Sahib plant. Barring India and the Asia Pacific region, the company saw a decline in its revenues from all other regions. The company said that during 2009, it expects to achieve sales of approximately Rs 7,000 crore and loss of Rs 800 crore on a consolidated basis.

Balrampur Chini Mills on Saturday reported a marginal increase in net profit at Rs 66.19 crore for the second quarter ended March 31, 2009. The sugar manufacturer had a net profit of Rs 65.65 crore in the second quarter of last fiscal, it said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The total income rose 15 per cent to Rs 357.34 crore during the March quarter, from Rs 311.15 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. For the six months ended March 31, Balrampur Chini reported a 79 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 117.49 crore . The total income at the end of the six-month period stood at Rs 786.56 crore.

Pantaloon Retail (India) on Saturday reported a 7.07 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 34.37 crore for the third quarter ended March 31, 2009. The firm had a net profit of Rs 32.10 crore in the March quarter of FY'08, Pantaloon Retail said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The total income rose 21.22 per cent to Rs 1,643.69 crore during the March quarter, from Rs 1,355.99 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. For the nine-month ended March 31, the company reported a 11.40 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 104.0 9 crore. The firm had a net profit of Rs 93.44 crore in the same period last fiscal. The income from operations during the nine-months period rose to Rs 4,673.93 crore, from Rs 3,667.53 crore from the corresponding period in FY'08

ICICI Bank on Saturday posted 35.30 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 744 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2009. The bank's profit stood at Rs 1,150 crore in the same quarter in the previous fiscal. Total income during the quarter stood at Rs 9,203 crore compared to Rs 10,391 crore in the same period last year, the bank said in a release here.

Maruti Suzuki India, on Friday reported 18.33 per cent decline in its net profit after tax for the quarter ended March 31, 2009, at Rs 243.13 crore as against Rs 297.68 crore in the same period previous year. The net sales, however, increased by 32.45 per cent at Rs 6,308.35 crore in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal compared to Rs 4,762.91 crore in the corresponding period of 2007-08, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said in a statement. For 2008-09 financial year, MSI's audited consolidated net profit plunged by 31.42 per cent to Rs 1,227.45 crore as against Rs 1,789.87 crore in 2007-08. The audited consolidated net sales of FY'09, however, rose by 14.09 per cent at Rs 20,557.94 crore, while the same stood at Rs 18,020.83 crore in FY'08,

The power distribution company, also involved in generation, transmission and trading of electricity besides constructing power plants, saw a 46.06 per cent rise in its net sales of electrical energy at Rs 10,037.64 crore last fiscal.. In the footnotes, the company said that it has made a provision of Rs 320 crore towards regulatory matters in respect of electricity matters and other corporate matters. Last year the company had made provision of just Rs 80 crore for these matters. In the last financial year, the company sold total of 9,581 million units of electrical energy. This was a tad higher (289 units more) compared to the year before. Reliance Infra has also recommended a dividend of Rs 7 per share for the year 2008-09.

 India's HDFC Bank Ltd. Thursday said its financial fourth-quarter net profit rose 34% from a year earlier, boosted by a jump in interest income. Net profit for the three months ended March 31 rose to 6.31 billion rupees from 4.71 billion rupees a year earlier. Total income for the quarter surged 53% to 53.66 billion rupees from 35.06 billion rupees a year earlier, aided by a 44% rise in interest income to 42.51 billion rupees.

Reliance Industries Limited on Thursday posted a 9.4 per cent decline in its fourth quarter net profit at Rs 3,546 crore, while the profit for the entire fiscal ended March 31, 2009, fell by 21.47 per cent to Rs 15,279 crore. The full year net turnover rose 9.6 per cent to Rs 1,46,291 crore, the company said while announcing its unaudited financial results for the period ended March 2009. The company's net turnover in the fourth quarter dropped to Rs 28,362 crore, down 24 per cent from the year-ago period.

LIC Housing Finance today said its net profit rose by 33.14 per cent to Rs 157.55 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2009.  The company had a net profit of Rs 118.09 crore in the same quarter ended March 31, 2008, LIC Housing Finance said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Total income of the company surged to Rs 790.47 crore during the quarter under review, as against Rs 606.76 crore in the same quarter previous fiscal.     For the year ended March 31, the company recorded a net profit of Rs 531.62 crore from Rs 387.18 crore in the same period last fiscal, up by 37.30 per cent.  

Power transmission and engineering firm KEC International said on Thursday it has bagged two orders worth Rs 95 crore in Mozambique and Namibia. The company, through its Saudi joint venture firm Al Sharif KEC, received an order from Electricidade De Mozambique for the construction of a 110 kv transmission line in Mozambique, KEC International said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Further, the company also secured an order from Namibia's Nampower for supplying and installing cable and hardware accessories for a 220 kv electric plant, it added.

Yes Bank has announced its fourth quarter numbers for the year FY09. Its Q4 standalone net profit went up at Rs 80.1 crore versus Rs 64.5 crore (YoY). The company's standalone net interest income (NII) increased to Rs 155.2 crore from Rs 108.5 crore (YoY). Commenting on the results, Rana Kapoor, MD and CEO,  Yes Bank ,  said higher provisions have been made to mitigate risk in the current environment. The bank's non-performing assets (NPAs) at current level were manageable, Kapoor added.

Biofuels technology company Praj Industries Ltd posted a severe dip of 53.10 per cent in net profit to Rs 27.52 crore during the January-March 2009 quarter of the recently-concluded financial year, against a profit of Rs 58.68 crore reported over the same period a year ago. The company managed to post an income of Rs 213.62 crore during the fourth quarter, which reflects a marginal rise of 1.16 per cent over Rs 211.17 on a year-on-year basis, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

 HCL Technologies on Wednesday said its net profit declined by 42 per cent to Rs 152.57 crore in the third quarter ended March 31, 2009. In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the company said it had a net profit of Rs 263.08 crore in the same quarter last fiscal. The total income of the company also fell to Rs 1,048.90 crore in the quarter under review, against Rs 1,275.58 crore in t he same quarter previous fiscal. For the nine-month ended March 31, the company has posted a net profit of Rs 804.37 crore from Rs 794.19 crore in the same period a year ago, up 1.28 per cent.

Wipro has reported a 15 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 1,010 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2009 as compared to the corresponding quarter of last fiscal. The topline of the company has moved up by 13 per cent to Rs 6,451 crore during the quarter. Wipro Technologies, the flagship IT services revenue, grew by 20 per cent to Rs 4,932 crore, just about meeting its own guidance, while sequentially this has dropped by around 3 per cent.   For fiscal FY09, the company has reported a net profit increase of 19 per cent to Rs 3,899 crore, while its topline has moved up by 28 per cent to Rs 25,544 crore over FY08. The IT services revenues were up 31 per cent while the operating profit was up 29 per cent.  

Suzlon Energy on Monday said it has posted a net loss of Rs 52.3 crore for the nine-month period ending December 31, 2008, against a net profit of Rs 565.28 crore in the year-ago period. However, the company's total income nearly doubled to Rs Rs 17,499.2 crore from Rs 8,924.3 crore during the same period, Suzlon said in a regulatory filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The energy major's profit before tax declined to Rs 272.54 crore in the nine-month period ended December 31, 2008, from Rs 689.63 crore in the year-ago period. Suzlon Energy Chairman and Managing Director Mr Tulsi Tanti had earlier this month said that t he company would start operations in South Africa and expand in South America, where the company has a presence in Brazil. It is also looking at enhancing its operations in Europe. The company, through its German arm REpower Systems AG, would supply and erect equipment for power projects in Canada from the next financial year (2010-11). Suzlon Energy plans to au

Business Standard -20-Apr-2009 The stock of Reliance Infrastructure (Reliance Infra), which had underperformed the BSE Sensex for most of the last 12 months, has significantly outperformed in the last one month. Among reasons that could be attributed to the outperformance is it’s recently completed share buyback programme, which partly reflects the management’s belief that the company’s assets are undervalued. Analysts also attribute some recent developments to the stock’s outperformance. Reliance Power, a 45 per cent subsidiary of Reliance Infra, won the bid to develop the 4,000 mw Tilaiya ultra mega power project (UMPP) in February 2009. The financial closure of the Delhi metro project and Reliance Infra emerging as lowest or sole bidder for three road projects worth Rs 9,440 crore are among other triggers. Core strengths Reliance Infra operates in some of the high growth potential sectors. It has presence in the entire value chain of the power sector including EPC, generation, trans

Citigroup announced a first-quarter net profit on 17th April  after more than a year of staggering losses. The New York-based bank reported first-quarter net income of $1.6 billion, after posting a loss of $5.11 billion in the period a year earlier. Revenue was $24.8 billion, up 99 percent.

DLF said on Friday it has approached the government for surrendering four of its IT-ITeS notified special economic zones (SEZ). The company “has requested the Ministry of Commerce & Industry for de-notification of four IT/ITES SEZs,” DLF said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Larsen and Toubro (L&T) said it anticipates a healthy growth rate of 25 to 35 per cent in its order inflows in the current financial year. “L&T anticipates healthy growth in its order inflows in the range of 25-35 per cent in FY 2009-10 even in this challenging environment,'' the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The company further said it has been investing in creati on of capacities and capabilities in areas which have good long-term prospects for value creation. These initiatives would enable the company to tap opportunities in several areas, including power and railways. Further, the infrastructure and hydrocarbon sectors are expected to continue their contribution to the order book, the company added. In the just ended fiscal, the company recorded a 24 per cent growth rate in order inflows. In FY'09, the company bagge d domestic as well as international orders worth Rs 52,000 crore, while in FY'08 it had bagged Rs 42,000 crore orders.