Prism Cement, HT Media & Batliboi Q3 results

CORPORATE SCORECARD

Prism Cement posted a net profit of Rs 50 crore in the quarter ended December 31, a jump of almost 15 times over Rs 3.35 crore registered in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The company's sales surged 49 per cent to Rs 190.6 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 127.87 crore in the corresponding period last year. Its EPS (earnings per share) stood at Rs 1.68 against Rs 0.11 last year.

Prism's operating profit for the quarter zoomed a phenomenal 329 per cent to Rs 86.19 crore from Rs 20.1 crore during the same period a year ago. For the half year ended December 31, 2006, its sales stood at Rs 350.9 crore compared with Rs 227.8 crore in the corresponding half year period of the previous year.

Prism, which is engaged solely in the cement business, invested heavily in the repairs of its plant in the initial period of the current accounting year. On the back of good results, the company's stock today shot up 9.9 per cent to Rs 41.60 from the previous close of Rs 37.85, on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

HT Media net doubles to Rs 34 cr

HT Media more than doubled its net profit to Rs 33.57 crore in the quarter to December 31, 2006, boosted by festival advertising and cost controls, said a senior official on Tuesday.

The company, publisher of the English daily Hindustan Times and Hindi daily Hindustan, benefited from a 27 per cent rise in revenues to Rs 290 crore, aided by a national footprint expansion, Chief Financial Officer Vinayak Purohit said.

"Despite all this (the launch expenses), our expenditure has grown marginally," he said. The company's operating profit rose 57 per cent to Rs 64 crore, after providing Rs 4.6 crore for the launch of a business daily, Purohit said.

HT Media has tied up with The Wall Street Journal to offer branded pages in its proposed business newspaper, likely to be launched by end-January in Mumbai and New Delhi. The company has just relaunched the Mumbai edition of Hindustan Times.

Batliboi PAT grows to Rs 3.94 cr

Batliboi posted a net profit of Rs 3.94 crore in the December 2006 quarter compared with Rs 1.69 crore in the same period last year. Net sales rose to Rs 36.23 crore from Rs 25.35 crore.