India Inc sets a scorching pace

140 firms post profit growth of 200%.

It was a spectacular day for India Inc as far as third quarter results went. Steel Authority of India Ltd (Sail), GE Shipping and CESC announced over 100 per cent growth in their net profits.

Sail, India's biggest steel maker, announced a net profit of Rs 1,514.24 crore for the October-December quarter "" up 105 per cent from the Rs 737.95 crore net posted in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

GE Shipping announced 161 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 287.5 crore (Rs 110.01 crore), recording its highest ever quarterly profit. The Kolkata-based RP Goenka-run CESC reported a 113 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 32 crore (Rs 15 crore).

After a six-year gap, Sail is back on the dividend track, announcing an interim dividend of 15 per cent. The company had last paid a 1 per cent dividend in 1997-98. GE Shipping announced a second interim dividend.

Five other companies, which announced results today, posted bottom line growth of between 50 and 100 per cent. They are Bharati Tele-Ventures, Siemens, Arvind Mills, Jindal Steel, Asian Star and Subex Systems.

Bharati Tele-Ventures' consolidated net increased by 95 per cent to Rs 372.64 crore (Rs 191.30 crore) and Siemens' by 90 per cent to Rs 31.37 crore (Rs 16.55 crore).

Indeed, of the 658 companies that have so far announced their quarterly results at least 140 have announced over 200 per cent growth in net profit.

The list includes Mastek (Rs 11.69 crore against Rs 1.01 crore), EID Parry (Rs 17.80 crore against Rs 1.67 crore), MRPL (Rs 288.40 crore against Rs 39.65 crore), Hindustan Oil Exploration Co (Rs 9.67 crore against Rs 1.98 crore), Gujarat NRE Coke (Rs 30.07 crore against Rs 6.49 crore), Balrampur Chini (Rs 45.14 crore versus Rs 10.28 crore), Mercator Lines (Rs 58 crore against Rs 13.93 crore), Century Textiles (Rs 31.86 crore against Rs 9 crore), Bharti Shipyard (Rs 4.63 crore against Rs 1.35 crore), Ispat Ind (Rs 92.56 crore against Rs 28.28 crore) and Tata Coffee (Rs 13.33 crore against Rs 4.32 crore).

Cement, entertainment, shipping, steel and sugar companies reported over 100 per cent growth in their bottomlines in the quarter. Companies operating in the non-ferrous metals, castings, dry cells and machine tools sectors have scripted turnaround stories.

The quarterly results of 658 companies that are available with the Business Standard Research Bureau have shown a 45 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 15,838 crore from Rs 10,898 crore in the previous year's third quarter.

The combined net sales of these 658 companies rose by 26 per cent to Rs 1,71, 325 crore (from Rs 1,35,668 crore in the comparable period of the previous year).

Of the 658 firms, another 141 companies posted net profit growth of over 100 per cent during the quarter. The bottom lines of 84 other firms rose by between 50 and 100 per cent while 61 companies turned around during the quarter.

Of the 658 firms, 60 companies posted sales growth of over 100 per cent, 61 firms recorded growth of between 50 per cent and 100 per cent and another 106 companies posted sales growth between 30 per cent and 50 per cent.