NEW DELHI, JULY 18: Cost-cutting measures helped Indian companies to improve their earnings in 1998-99 despite an industrial slowdown, a survey of financial results of 165 companies by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) showed on Sunday.Income from operations and net sales has increased by 18.4 per cent to aggregate Rs 25,735.14 crore in 1998-99 as against Rs 21,743.38 crore in the previous year Profit after tax averaged 9.2 per cent higher than in 1997-98. Profit before tax and profit after tax aggregated Rs 2,728.35 crore and Rs 2,153.54 crore respectively in 1998-99, as against Rs 2,455.43 crore and Rs 1,972.88 crore in 1997-98.However, profit margins rose by only 10.6 per cent in 1998-99 as compared to a 11.3 per cent rise in 1997-98, the industry body said. Interest expended by the 165 companies was higher by 18.6 per cent at Rs 2,175.82 crore in 1998-99 as against Rs 1,834.58 crore in 1997-98 Tax liabilities reported were higher by 19.1 per cent compared to the previous year at Rs 574.81crore in 1998-99 and Rs 482.56 crore in 1997-98."Competitiveness is the buzz word and it appears that the corporates have undertaken a massive cost-cutting exercise in the face of industrial slowdown and have improved their bottomlines," the CII said in a statement.The income from operations of the top ten companies in 1998-99 aggregated to Rs 17,126.54 crore and accounted for 66.5 per cent of the total income from operations of the 165 companies. The profit before tax and profit after tax of the top ten companies aggregated Rs 1,716.93 crore and Rs 1,375.34 crore respectively, accounting for 62.9 per cent of the total profit before tax and 63.9 per cent of the total profit after tax of the 165 companies.For the top ten companies the income from operations was higher by 19.7 per cent the profit before tax was more by 9.7 per cent and the profit after tax by 8.5 per cent in 1998-99 as compared to 1997-98.Indian Oil Corporation topped the list with income from operations amounting to Rs 6,366.14 crorefollowed by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (Rs 2,391.03 crore), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (Rs 2,159.98 crore) Larsen and Toubro (Rs 729.15 crore), IDBI (Rs 729.1 crore), Bharat Heavy Electricals (Rs 700 crore), Gas Authority of India Limited (Rs 664.39 crore) and MTNL (Rs 524.68 crore).In terms of percentage growth over 1997-98 in income from operations, Bharat Petroleum Corporation achieved an increase of 82.5 per cent, followed by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation 66.2 per cent, Larsen and Toubro 28.4 per cent, Gas Authority of India 15.8 per cent and MTNL 12.7 per cent. Income from operations of Oil and Natural Gas Commission dipped by 1.7 per cent while that of IDBI grew by 7.1 per cent, Indian Oil Corporation 6.4 per cent, and BHEL 5.9 per cent.Among the top ten companies, five companies - IOC, HPCL, BPCL, ONGC and GAIL - belong to the oil and gas sector. NTPC belongs to the power sector, L&T has diversified operations, IDBI is in the financial services sector, BHEL in the electrical machinerysector and MTNL in the telecom services sector.Of the top ten companies, eight - IOC, HPCL, BPCL, ONGC, NTPC, BHEL, GAIL and MTNL - are from the public sector. Out of the 165 companies analysed, 21 firms belong to the public sector.An analysis of the profit before tax and profit after tax of the top ten companies shows that ONGC recorded the highest gross profit of Rs 357.46 crore and net profit of Rs 275.45 crore in 1998-99. The other companies in the order of gross profit earned were IOC with gross profit of Rs 273.25 crore and net profit of Rs 221.35 crore, NTPC (Rs 259.89 crore and Rs 251.19 crore respectively), MTNL (Rs 197.67 crore and Rs 131.73 crore), IDBI, BPCL (Rs 97.8 crore and Rs 70 crore BHEL (Rs 94.4 crore and Rs 57.47 crore) and L&T (Rs 52.2 crore and Rs 47 crore respectively).Seven of the 165 companies have shown net losses during 1998-99. These companies include CESC and Timex.
