Reliance H1 net up 10%
Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd on Wednesday announced a 6.63 per cent rise in net profit for the second quarter of the fiscal despite a 7.24 per cent drop in sales.

The firms net profit for the first half of the year marks a 10 per cent increase to Rs 1,320 crore from Rs 1,203 crore for the corresponding period year ago. Sales, excluding trading, for the period was Rs 12,624 crore, down 2 per cent from Rs 12,856 crore a year earlier.

The company posted a net profit of Rs 702 crore in the second quarter, up from a restated figure of Rs 660 crore for the same period last year. The petrochemicals producer had originally reported a profit of Rs 735 crore for July-September 2000 but restated it due to a change in calculating depreciation and providing for tax. Its bottomline was also boosted by a 121.05 per cent rise in other income to Rs 168 crore.

Reflecting the performance, the Reliance scrip closed up 1.1 per cent at the Bombay Stock Exchange at Rs 255.40.
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Orchid Chemicals forms JV with Italian firm
Chennai: Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd has formed a joint venture with Iftituto Biochimico Pavese Pharma, SPA of Italy. The company is also looking out for partners to set up a joint venture facility in China.

The JV with the Italian company would focus on basic research and formulation of anti-peptide drugs, which is used as an antibiotic and for treating cancer. The JV would also focus on research in biotechnology and innovative antioxides and Novel Drug Delivery Systems (NDDS). Orchid would invest Rs 5 crore in the 50:50 joint venture and the Italian partner would bring in their intellectual property, technical knowhow and other expertise as capital.

Meanwhile, Orchid has reported a 40 per cent decline in its profit while its operating income has increased by 1.35 per cent for the second quarter ended September 30 compared to the corresponding previous period. The net profit of the company stood at Rs 2.66 crore and sales and operating income stood at Rs 93.76 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2001, as against Rs 4.41 crore and Rs 92.51 crore respectively during the same period, previous fiscal.
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Ford recalls 1 m vehicles
Washington: Ford Motor Co has recalled more than 1 million passenger cars, sport utility vehicles and certain pickup trucks to fix a wiper motor defect, federal auto regulators said on Tuesday.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said a switch in the plastic cover of the wiper motor gear case on certain vehicles could malfunction and overheat. This could potentially result in the loss of wiper function. The problem is most likely to occur when the wipers are on an intermittent setting or when snow or ice obstructs wiper blades from returning to their resting position on the bottom of the windshield.
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ACC Q2 net profit at Rs 17.03cr
Mumbai: Associated Cement Companies has turned around and posted a net profit of Rs 17.03 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, 2001, compared to a net loss of Rs 15.53 crore in same period of last year.

Net sales in Q2 were higher at Rs 713.98 crore as against Rs 656.92 crore in corresponding quarter of previous fiscal, ACC said in a release here on Wednesday.

The company has sold 26.29 lakh tonnes in the reporting quarter (25.29 lakh tonnes in Q2 of last year), including the traded cement, it said.

For the first half ended September 2001, the net profit was Rs 60.98 crore (Rs 25.03 crore net loss) while net sales stood at Rs 1,545.13 (Rs 1,403.08 crore), it added.
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BIFR clears Binny package
Chennai: Binny has got clearance from the Board for Industrial and Financial restructuring (BIFR) for its revival package which provides for one time settlement of dues to the tune of Rs 110 crore to banks and FIs within 90 days.

The board has also asked the promoters to settle workers dues (mainly VRS) to the tune of Rs 41 crore. Of this, Rs 9.5 crore will have to be disbursed immediately to the workmen.

The package also envisages capital outlay in the processing and weaving sections and in the proposed container freight services. Besides, the scheme envisages splitting Binny into two companies -- Binny and Binny Karnataka.
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Tata Tea to divest 40% in Tata-NYK
Mumbai: Tata Tea will divest 40 per cent stake in Tata-NYK, a joint venture company, in favour of NYK Japan.

The capital gains worth Rs 7.69 crore from the divestment was expected to be accrued in the third quarter of this fiscal, Tata Tea, which holds 50 per cent stake in JV, said in a notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

The necessary approvals from the Government of India have been secured, it said. Tata Tea has also inked a Memorandum of Understanding with Hitachi of Japan to wind-up operations of Tata-Hitachi Sales (Japan), it said.
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Dr Reddy's Q2 net soars
Mumbai: Dr Reddys Laboratories on Wednesday reported net profit for July-September rose almost five times from a year earlier, buoyed by US sales of a generic copy of Prozac. Dr Reddy's reported a second-quarter net profit of Rs 143 crore against Rs 29.473 crore a year earlier.

The company's sales rose 92 per cent to Rs 467 crore, with its generic version of Eli Lilly's Prozac anti-depressant drug contributing Rs 164 crore.
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Birla Copper plans expansion
Mumbai: Birla Copper, a division of Indo-Gulf Corporation, is exploring possibilities of increasing copper smelting capacity at its plant at Dahej, Gujarat. The company has roped in consultancy major Mecon for the feasibility of expanding the copper cathode facility by 70,000 tonnes.
Shipments from Birla Copper surged to 11,857 tonnes from 3,372 tonnes, mainly to markets in South-East Asia and the Far East.

The expansion would involve a new copper smelter, a refinery and other auxiliaries for the capacity addition. Birla Copper had recently raised its output to 150,000 tonnes from the earlier 100,000 tonnes.
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SAIL to raise Rs 750cr through asset sale
Kolkata: Steel Authority of India Limited is raise around Rs 750 crore cash through sale of asset by the end of current fiscal. This would enable SAIL bring down its year-end losses.

Asset transfer of Bokaro Steel Plants thermal generating capacity of 302 MW and Bhilai Steel Plant's 75 MW plant will help SAIL net around Rs 450 crore of cash.

Besides the asset transfer in power plant, SAIL is expected to garner cash of around Rs 300 crore from selling residential units at its four steel townships -- Bokaro, Bhilai, Durgapur and Rourkela.
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Star downsizes Indya
New Delhi: Star has decided to downsize Indya.com's operations to 25 people, down from the current strength of 120. The entire management team, including chief executive officer Sunil Lulla, has been asked to quit.

According to the new plan, Indya would not remain an India-specific portal anymore. The new focus will be on building content and services in the core domain of STAR, which is entertainment and information.

The downsizing at Indya follows STAR's decision to completely freeze any further investments in Indya, which was turned into its integrated default portal in August.
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Torrent net down 39% in Q2
Ahmedabad: Torrent Pharmaceuticals Limited (TPL) has registered a 39.17 per cent decline in net profit for the second quarter ended September 30, 2001. The company has posted a net profit of Rs 12.98 crore compared to Rs 21.34 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The companys turnover has risen from Rs 114.95 crore to Rs 121.49 crore, an increase of Rs 5.68 crore during the period. On the export front, the company has registered a growth of 7 per cent from Rs 78.29 crore to Rs 83.56 crore.
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SCI Q2 net down 23.30%
Mumbai: Shipping Corporation of India Ltd has recorded a 23.30 per cent drop in net profit at Rs 64.40 crore for the second quarter ended September 2001, compared to Rs 83.97 crore in same period of previous fiscal.

Total income in Q2 has decreased to Rs 747.65 crore as against Rs 796.32 crore in corresponding quarter of last year, SCI informed the Bombay Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
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BHEL Q2 net increases 10 times
New Delhi: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd reported on Wednesday its net profit increased 10 times in July-September from a year earlier. BHEL posted a profit of Rs 1.46 billion, up from Rs 119 million a year earlier. Net sales rose 25.8 per cent to Rs 15.94 billion from Rs 12.67 billion.

The government owns a 67.72 per cent stake in BHEL, which with its 13 manufacturing facilities had a 64 per cent share of the power equipment market last year. About 60 per cent of its revenue comes from the domestic power sector.
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Khaitan posts loss of Rs 0.73 crore
Kolkata: Khaitan Electricals Ltd went deep into red in the second quarter of current financial year reporting net at Rs 0.73 crore against a net profit of Rs 0.11 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal, a company release said.

Net sales during the quarter had surged to Rs 14.75 crore from Rs 13.49 crore whereas other income increased to Rs 0.20 crore from a low of Rs 0.04 crore.

Total expenditure stood higher largely on account of increase in other expenditure to Rs 5.86 crore from Rs 2.62 crore while employees' costs increased to Rs 1.05 crore from Rs 0.96 crore last year.
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IDBI Bank Q2 net profit at Rs 14.73 crore
Mumbai: IDBI Bank Ltd has recorded a net profit of Rs 14.73 crore for second quarter ended September 30, 2001, compared to a net loss of Rs 10.10 crore in same period of previous fiscal.

Net interest income in Q2 increased by 204 per cent at Rs 44.10 crore as against Rs 14.50 crore in same period of last year, the bank said in a release here on Wednesday.

Other income, which constitutes foreign exchange earnings, fees and commission from other non-fund based banking activities and money trading income, rose to Rs 22.63 crore (Rs 8.47 crore in Q2 of last year), it added.
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Can Fin Homes' net up 21%
Bangalore: Can Fin Homes Limited has registered a 21 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 8.87 crore for the half-year ended September 2001 against Rs 7.32 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The current fiscal's Q2 net profit at Rs 5.10 crore is 16 per cent higher than the previous year's corresponding figure of Rs 4.38 crore, it said in a statement here.

The operating income of the company at Rs 67.51 crore showed 14 per cent increase compared to Rs 59.15 crore in the first half of the last financial year, it said.

Company's loan approvals in the half-year (April 2001 to Sept 2001) at Rs 207.96 crore recorded about 56 per cent rise compared to corresponding period last year. Disbursements at Rs 179.55 crore showed about 39 per cent increase.

Earnings per share of the company increased from Rs 3.57 to Rs 4.33 during the half-year. The company has brought down its interest rate on all housing loans by 0.25 per cent to one per cent.
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BPCL Q2 net down 49.32%
Mumbai: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd has recorded a sharp decline of 49.32 per cent at Rs 181.9 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2001 compared to Rs 358.9 crore in same period of previous fiscal.

The net sales in Q2 has also decreased to Rs 9,906 crore from Rs 10,896.8 crore in July-September 2000, the company said in a release here on Wednesday.

The net profit and net sales were down for the six-month ending September 2001 at Rs 404.8 crore (Rs 546.5 crore) and Rs 20,052.3 crore (Rs 21,706.5 crore) respectively, BPCL said.
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Bata India slips into red in Q3
Kolkata: Bata India Limited on Wednesday reported a net loss of Rs 4.45 crore during its third quarter ended September 2001 against a net profit of Rs 0.38 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal.

Following the discouraging third quarter result, the company's unaudited financial results for nine-month showed a net loss of Rs 1.68 crore against a net profit of Rs 10.55 crore last year.

Net sales during the quarter came down to Rs 163.61 crore from Rs 173.02 crore last year, whereas other income increased sharply to Rs 1.14 crore from Rs 0.32 crore, a company release said.
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Reliance Petroleum's GDR deferred
Mumbai: Reliance Petroleum Ltd has deferred its plans to issue Global Depository Receipts due to unfavourable market conditions even as it is looking at an investment of Rs 1,000 crore to 1,500 crore in marketing infrastructure for petro products.

RPL has signed a memorandum of understanding with state-owned Indian Oil Corporation for setting up a joint venture marketing company in the post APM scenario.
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Telco Q2 losses down 61%
Mumbai: Tata Engineering has trimmed its losses by 61 per cent to Rs 61.83 crore in the second quarter of the current financial year from Rs 158.01 crore in the same period last year. In the first quarter, Tata Engineering had posted losses of Rs 98.9 crore.

Telcos revenues in the second quarter jumped 7.4 per cent to Rs 2,068.19 crore from Rs 1,925.47 crore. The deferred tax credit of Rs 53.29 crore will be accounted for at the end of current financial year.

Following recovery of the market for medium and heavy commercial vehicles in the last two months, the companys market share in heavy and medium commercial vehicles (H&MCVs) went up to 65 per cent from 63 per cent.

The company also sold 27,533 Indicas in the first half of the current financial year, a growth of 10.3 per cent over the same period last year.

The demand for light commercial vehicles (LCVs) remained depressed. In the first half of the current financial year, Tata Engineering sold 10,823 vehicles.
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Tatas may up stake in Voltas by 10%
Mumbai: The Tatas are planning to hike their stake in Voltas by 10 per cent as permitted under the new creeping acquisition limit to thwart hostile take-over bid by the Gujarat Samachar.

The Tata group has already hiked its stake in Voltas by 2.68 per cent to around 23 per cent through open market operations in the last three months, Voltas chairman Ishaat Hussain said.

Hussain disputed the Gujarat Samachar groups claim that it had picked up a more than 14.4 per cent stake in Voltas.
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LML Q2 net loss rises to Rs 18.8 cr
Mumbai: Scooter maker LML Ltd on Wednesday reported an increased second quarter net loss of Rs 18.8 crore against Rs 16.9 crore in the same period last year.

Total income has, however, increased by 7.6 per cent to Rs 110.3 crore during July-September 2001-02 from Rs 102.5 crore in the year-ago quarter, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

During the period, LML's domestic sales of scooter and motorcycles increased marginally to 40,223 units from 39,888 units.

Exports of scooters and motorcycles, however, decreased from 2,910 units to 1,991 units in the year-on-year period.

LML, which manufactures motorcycles in technical alliance with Daelim Motors of South Korea, has completed the nationwide launch of the four-stroke-3 valve 110 motorcycles, 'Adreno FX' and 'Energy FX' during this month.
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IPCL Q2 net down 73.75%
Mumbai: Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd has recorded a 73.75 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 23.92 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2001, compared to Rs 91.12 crore in same period of last year.

Total income in Q2 has also decreased to Rs 1,231.86 crore as against Rs 1492.37 crore in corresponding quarter of previous fiscal, IPCL informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The drop in profits is attributed to softening of product prices and throttled supply of raw materials by ONGC at Nagothane, it added.
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Aptech Q3 net down 98.02%
Mumbai: Aptech Ltd, has posted a 98.02 per cent fall in net profit at Rs 50.3 lakh for the third quarter ended September 2001, compared to Rs 25.3 crore same period of last fiscal.

The total income in Q3 also declined sharply to Rs 73.07 crore from Rs 156.61 crore in July-September 2000, the company said in a release here on Thursday.

The revenues from global operations in the reporting quarter declined to Rs 100.08 crore from Rs 188.16 crore in Q3 of last fiscal, it said.'

The international software division's Q3 revenue fell to Rs 25.22 crore (Rs 48.41 crore) due to adverse impact on economic slowdown, Aptech added.
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Container Corporation net up 29%
New Delhi: Container Corporation of India Ltd has posted a 29 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 127.86 crore during the first half of the current fiscal against Rs 99.12 crore for the corresponding period last fiscal.

Total income from operations rose by 24 per cent at Rs 648.52 crore during the first half of 2001-02 against Rs 524.53 crore during the same period 2000-01, a release said.

The company hopes to achieve its current fiscal targets despite the slow down in container traffic and has opened three additional domestic terminals at Pondicherry, Salem Market and Rajkot.
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