CORPORATE SCORECARD

Castrol Q2 net rises 15%
Castrol India has recorded a 15.36 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 47.1 crore in the second quarter ended June 2004 compared with Rs 40.9 crore in the same quarter of the previous year.

The board has announced an interim dividend of Rs four per share for 2004. The company's net sales were up 17 per cent to Rs 360.7 crore (Rs 308.2 crore).

Naveen Kshatriya, managing director of Castrol India, said: "The second quarter results reflect the continued upward trend in the performance of the company. During this quarter, we have not only improved our top line but profit as well. This is particularly impressive considering the continued increase in base oil prices. The performance has been achieved through superior portfolio management and higher unit process realisation. What is heartening is that we have increased volumes by more than 11 per cent in a market which we estimate is growing at approximately three per cent."

The company posted a 16.6 per cent rise in net sales during the six months ended June 2004, at Rs 649.10 crore compared with Rs 556.9 crore during the same six months of the previous year.

GSK Consumer net falls 16%
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare's profit after tax dipped 16 per cent to Rs 18.58 crore in the second quarter of 2003-04 from Rs 22.28 crore in the same period last year.

The company's net sales have gone up by 4.8 per cent to Rs 210.16 crore (Rs 200.21 crore). The board of directors has declared an interim dividend of Rs 3.30 per share.

HCC profit rises 29%
Hindustan Construction (HCC), a engineering and construction company, has posted a 29.25 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 13.21 crore in first quarter ended June 30, 2004, compared with Rs 10.22 crore in the same quarter last year.

The company posted net sales and income from operations of Rs 380 crore during the quarter under review, as against Rs 248.12 crore registered during the same quarter of the previous fiscal, HCC said in a release. The company also announced that its Rs 900-crore Delhi metro project would be completed seven months ahead of schedule.

Indo Gulf Fert net down 34%
Indo Gulf Fertilisers, an Aditya Birla group company, has posted a 34 per cent dip in its net profit at Rs 7.9 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2004, compared with a net profit of Rs 12.2 crore registered in the corresponding period of the previous year. The company recorded a 134 per cent jump in net sales at Rs 94.7 crore (Rs 40.3 crore).

In a statement to the press, the company said: "Net profit is down by Rs 4.27 crore due to lower other income. However, a further reduction of Rs 120 per tonne in urea prices due to stage II of urea pricing policy, plus a significant increase in raw material costs on account of higher naphtha usage was offset by increase in sales volume and operational efficiencies."

Other income for the quarter declined to Rs 6.5 crore (Rs 12 crore). During the period, the company produced 2.38 lakh tonne of urea, thereby resulting in a capacity utilisation in excess of 100 per cent.

KVB net edges up 12%
Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) has registered a 11.8 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 34.10 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2004, from Rs 30.50 crore in the corresponding period in the previous year. Total income slipped 3.43 per cent to Rs 174.80 crore (Rs 181.12 crore).

The bank's provisions and contingencies dropped 27 per cent to Rs 16.35 crore (Rs 22.42 crore). This propped the bottomline after the operating profit fell by 14.7 per cent to Rs 53.45 crore (Rs 62.67 crore). Interest income on advances or bills rose 10.07 per cent to Rs 100.09 crore (Rs 90.93 crore).

Total interest income, however, fell by 8.75 per cent to Rs 152.19 crore (Rs 166.79 crore) on the back of fall in income on investments to Rs 47.84 crore (Rs 67.61 crore). Other income went up to Rs 22.71 crore (Rs 14.33 crore).

Deposits rose 11.83 per cent to Rs 5,652.46 crore (Rs 5,054 crore). Gross advances were up 20.22 per cent at Rs 3,797.47 crore (Rs 3,158.67 crore). The bank's capital adequacy is at 19.19 per cent (18.6 per cent).

SBT bottomline soars 84%
State Bank of Travancore (SBT) has posted a 84 per cent rise net profit in the quarter ended 30 June, 2004, at Rs 94.01 crore as against Rs 51.22 crore posted in the same period in last fiscal. Net interest income increased 28.74 per cent to Rs 203.52 crore.

Other income went up 26.47 percent to Rs 136.50 crore (Rs 107.93 crore. The capital adequacy ratio improved to 12.34 per cent (11.36 per cent), according to a press release issued by the bank. Earnings per share was Rs 188.02 (non-annualised) in comparison to Rs 102.44 of the corresponding period last year.

Aggregate deposits grew by Rs 1,324 crore. Retail lendings grew by Rs 39 crore. The net NPAs declined from 1.39 per cent on 31st March 2004 to 1.06 per cent. During the quarter, SBT has gone live on the real time gross settlement scheme (RTGS) for inter-bank transactions.

New loan schemes like Rain Water Harvest Scheme for farmers and the Bhavansree Housing Loan for those below the poverty line were introduced during the period.

SIB net drops 23% to Rs 18.4 cr
South Indian Bank (SIB) has clocked a 23 per cent drop in net profit at Rs 18.44 crore for the quarter ended June 2004, as against Rs 22.60 crore recorded during the same period last year. Operating profit fell to Rs 39.18 crore (Rs 52.09 crore).

A Sethumadhavan, chairman of the bank, said the fall in the profitabilty was solely due to the decline in profit on sale of invetments from Rs 33.25 crore to Rs 12.84 crore.

Interest income increased to Rs 180.19 crore (Rs 160.78 crore), while interest expenditure edged up to Rs 120.42 crore (Rs 117.02 crore). The book value of share increased from Rs 95.77 to Rs 115.46 and per employee business rose from Rs 2.94 crore to Rs 3.43 crore. While the networth increased to Rs 413.33 crore (Rs 343.58 crore), the capital adequacy ratio stood at 12.09 per cent.

The net NPA was reduced from 6.2 per cent to 4.53 per cent. The year to year business has grown by 18.3 per cent to Rs 12,055 crore (Rs 10,194 crore). While deposits increased to Rs 7,787 crore (Rs 6,750 crore), advances rose to Rs 4,268 crore (Rs 3,444 crore).

SKF net rockets 97%
SKF India has posted a 97 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 12.24 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2004 as compared with Rs 6.22 crore for the corresponding period of the last year. Total income rose from Rs 121.86 crore to Rs 144.88 crore.

Sona Koyo Steering Q1 net down 7% at Rs 2.39 cr
Sona Koyo Steering Systems' first quarter net profit dipped 7 per cent to Rs 2.39 crore in 2004-05 from Rs 2.57 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The company's sales, however, rose by 19 per cent to Rs 74 crore (Rs 62 crore) during the period. The board of directors has fixed September 1, 2004 as the record date for the proposed sub-division of equity shares from the present value of Rs 10 to Rs 2.

TVSE bottomline up 77% at Rs 1.47 cr in Q2
Computer peripherals manufacturer TVS Electronics (TVSE) has reported a 15 per cent growth in sales at Rs 70.91 crore for the second quarter ended June 30, 2004 against Rs 61.76 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous calendar year.

The company is confident of closing the year with a topline in excess of Rs 270 crore. Net profit in the second quarter improved 77 per cent to Rs 1.47 crore (Rs 0.83 crore). In the second quarter of this calendar year, TVSE improved its marketshare in dot matrix printers to 44 per cent (38 per cent).

The company also made strong inroads in the sub-1kv UPS market with a shipment of 13,000 units. TVSE's director, Gopal Srinivasan, informed that though a good portion of this (8000 units) were shipped to a single customer - Income Tax Department - the company was hopeful of repeating this performance in the coming quarters too.

Continuing its plans to reduce debt capital the company retired Rs 10 crore debt capital in the second quarter.

Srinivasan said: "We exported DMP to Nepal and Sri Lanka. We are also looking at Pakistan and Bangladesh as potential market in the coming quarters to expand our presence in the SAARC region."

Samkrg Pistons net up 24.5%
Hyderabad-based Samkrg Pistons and Rings Limited, a manufacturer of automobile pistons and rings for the automobile industry, has seen 24.5 per cent growth in its net profit at Rs 1.84 crore for the first quarter ended June 30.

It recorded a net profit of Rs 1.47 crore for the corresponding quarter of the last financial year. The board of directors of the company has declared and paid the interim dividend of 45 per cent for the financial year 2003-04.

This is the highest-ever dividend paid by the company so far. The turnover for the quarter rose by 13 per cent to Rs 17.42 crore from Rs 15.42 crore in the quarter ended June 30, 2003.

The profit before tax recorded a growth of 20 per cent at Rs 2.41 crore as compared to Rs 2 crore. The earnings per share (EPS) had gone up by 24.66 per cent to Rs 7.48 as compared to Rs 6 in the quarter ended June 30, 2003.

S D M Rao, chairman and managing director of Samkrg, said in a release that the export sales increased by 36.74 per cent to Rs 3.11 crore from Rs 2.27 crore.

Exports had been made mainly to Europe, US and Australia, he said. Rao said the company had secured the quality management system (QMS) certification ISO/TS 16949: 2002 from the US-based Underwriter Laboratories Inc.

Natco Pharma nets Rs 4.95cr
Natco Pharma Limited recorded a 142.6 per cent growth in net profit for the first quarter ended June 30, 2004.

The net profit for the quarter was Rs 4.95 crore as compared to Rs 2.04 crore earned during the corresponding quarter of the last financial year. The turnover for the quarter grew by 30.8 per cent to Rs 42.64 crore from Rs 32.58 crore.

According to a release from the company, the interest costs have also come down significantly. The earning per share (EPS) for the quarter was Rs 2.12 as compared to Rs 1.18 during the corresponding previous quarter and on an annualised basis the EPS was at Rs 8.48 as compared to Rs 5.59 during the financial year 2003-04.

Natco Pharma informed that it had finalised arrangements for the issue of foreign currency convertible bonds worth $10 million. It proposes to approach the markets in September this year.

The board of directors of the company approved of grant of stock options to its employees at various levels. The total number of options to be granted are likely to be around six lakh.

Zen Technologies net zooms 94%
Zen Technologies Limited registered a growth of 94.43 per cent in its net profit for the first quarter ended June 30.

The net profit rose to Rs 1.12 crore from Rs 58.04 lakh in the corresponding quarter ended June 30, 2003.

The net sales shot up by 207 per cent to Rs 3.67 crore from Rs 1.19 crore. The other income was lower at Rs 14.92 lakh as compared to Rs 18.17 lakh in the first quarter of last financial year.