MUMBAI, May 12: Automobile giant Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company Ltd (Telco) has reported a 67 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 97.46 crore in the financial year 1998-99 as against Rs 294.66 crore reported in the corresponding period of the previous year. As a result, the board of directors which met here today slashed the dividend to 30 per cent from 55 per cent.The company has claimed that the financial performance for 1998-99 is significant, given that the year witnessed a continuous slowdown in industrial growth, with key sectors of the economy showing a moderate to negative rate of growth. The commercial vehicle segment of the automobile industry by far was the worst affected, with a substantial shrinkage of market demand for the second year in succession.Meanwhile, on the expectations of better financial performance the Telco scrip rose by Rs 4.05 to Rs 169 from the previous close at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), while it gained by Rs 4.75 to Rs 168.75 as against the previous at theNational Stock Exchange (NSE).The release further stated that the automated assembly line of Indica achieved commercial operations in early March 1999. The rest of the plant was operated on a batch basis and during the current financial year, the company will be in a position to commission the full plant to meet the market demand.
