India Inc reaps bumper crop: SBI, SAIL, Tisco net up

Take for example, State Bank of India has posted a 20.99 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 988.74 crore for the second quarter ended September 2003, compared to Rs 817.2 crore reported in the same period of the previous fiscal. Total income in the period under review has increased to Rs 10,269.01 crore from Rs 8,962.91 crore in Q2 of last year. Similarly, private sector steel giant, Tata Steel reported a 100.8 per cent jump in its net profit at Rs 403.10 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2003 as against Rs 200.66 crore posted in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. Net sales for the reporting quarter rose to Rs 2,612.99 crore as compared to Rs 2,078.82 crore in the earlier fiscal.

Essar Steel also registered a growth of 34 per cent in total income at Rs 1,681.88 crore for the six months ended September 30, 2003 as against Rs 1,253.26 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. With this, the company has reduced its loss to Rs 16.29 crore as against Rs 564.18 crore in corresponding period of the previous year.

At the same time, profits of government-owned Sail touched an all-time high of Rs 505 crore in second quarter ended September, doubling the Rs 255 crore profit earned in the first quarter. It has recorded a net profit of Rs 760 crore during the first half of current financial year as against Rs 467 crore loss during April-September 2002.

Dubbing 2003-04 as ‘best performance year’ where the corporation recorded a Rs 1,200 crore positive swing, SAIL chairman V. S. Jain told reporters that about half of the profits so far during the fiscal could be attributed to increase in steel prices. The good results also percolated down to fast moving consumer goods sector with Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) recording a 7.2 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 443.22 crore for the third quarter ended September 2003 compared to Rs 413.29 crore posted in the same period previous year. The net sales for the reporting quarter were up at Rs 2,467.49 crore as against Rs 2,367.46 crore registered in Q3 of 2002. ‘‘Power brands growth rate has further increased to 9.8 per cent. These 30 brands contributed more than 90 per cent of total sales of the company. The home personal and care products also grew by 7.7 per cent,” HLL vice-chairman M. K. Sharma said here today.

Auto and tractor major, Mahindra and Mahindra announced a 25 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 72.99 crore as against Rs 58.27 crore recorded in the second quarter of the previous year. The gross sales and income from operations was Rs 1,356.42 crores as against Rs 1,002.12 crores recorded in the second quarter of last fiscal. The company said this increase in profits was primarily on account of a strong growth in sales in the company’s automotive divison and continued efforts at cost reduction.