Five more firms join Rs 1000 cr profit band

18 'Ten billion' companies in financial year 2004

Five more companies have joined the club of firms with net profit of over Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) during the financial year ended on March 31, 2004.

SAIL, MTNL, Infosys Technologies, Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of India (BoI), are the new kids on the block.

The number of firms with net profit in excess of Rs 1,000 crore now stands higher at 18, compared with 13 in the previous fiscal.

Of the 18 firms, 12 are are from the public sector and six are from the private sector. Net profits of only standalone (stripping out group firms), listed companies have been considered for the study.

SAIL re-entered the league with a net profit of Rs 2,512 crore in the fiscal 2003-04.

The steel major, which was a member in the financial year 1995-96, incurred losses in the five consecutive years before turning around last financial year. MTNL joined the club with a 46 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 1,277.68 crore during the fiscal 2003-04.

Public-sector banks PNB and BoI booked a 20 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 1,108.69 crore and Rs 1,008.32 crore respectively.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Reliance Industries Ltd are by default the member of Rs 1,000 crore net profit club as they already have net profits above $1 billion (Rs 4,500 crore).

ONGC, the first Indian firm to have achieved a net profit of Rs 10,000 crore last fiscal, continues to top the bill for the second consecutive year. It, however, posted a lower net profit of Rs 8,664 crore in the fiscal 2003-04, compared with Rs 10,529 crore in the financial year 2002-03.

IOC, which was the most profitable company in the fiscal 2001-02, ranked second in the fiscal 2003-04 with a net profit of Rs 7,005 crore.

Reliance Industries, the first private sector company to achieve a net profit of over $1 billion, ranks third.

The private-sector major posted a net profit of Rs 5,160 crore in 2003-04, compared with Rs 4,104 crore in the fiscal 2002-03.

State Bank of India, the country's biggest bank, ranked fourth with a net profit of Rs 3,681 crore in 2003-04.

SAIL, which made a fresh entry into the club after the gap of seven years, ranked fifth with a net profit of Rs 2,512 crore in fiscal ended on March 31, 2004.

The 18 firms with Rs 1,000 crore-plus in net profit did well by posting a combined net profit growth of 18.7 per cent in the fiscal 2003-04.

However, if ONGC, whose bottom line shrivelled by 17.7 per cent, is stripped out, the other 17 companies posted a net profit growth of 32.1 per cent.