Vedanta group firm Sterlite Industries, on Tuesday, reported over 30 per cent growth in consolidated net profit at Rs.1,191.41 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012, largely on account of improved sales realisations and lower tax outgo. The company had reported a net profit of Rs.913.52 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.
Net sales were up 4.33 per cent at Rs.10,692.40 crore against Rs.10,248.77 crore, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. On a standalone basis there was a marginal drop in net sales at Rs. 5314 crore while the net profit was lower by 22 per cent to Rs. 541 crore from Rs. 697 crore.
In a separate statement, the company said its core profits reflected “improved operational efficiencies, marginally higher metal prices and premiums and improved sales realisation due to rupee depreciation, which were partially offset by lower by-product realisations”.
Commenting on the results, company’s Chairman Anil Agrawal said in a release that Sterlite Industries continued to maintain its strong performance and leadership position. ``
“We have substantially improved our efficiencies, operational performance and metal production across businesses,” the statement quoted him as further saying.
Hindustan Zinc, its subsidiary, plans to add 1.2 million tonnes per annum new capacity for about $1.5 billion (Rs.8,000 crore). ``It will be invested over a six-year period,’’ the company said. On Vedanta Aluminium Ltd. (VAL), an associate firm, the company said improved operational performance and lower foreign exchange losses decreased Sterlite’s share of loss by 14 per cent in the VAL during the third quarter to Rs.226 crore.
“VAL, which had suspended operations in December at its Lanjigarh alumina refinery due to paucity of bauxite, is in talks with ``authorities concerned and other stakeholders for sourcing of bauxite from Odisha and other states to restart” the refinery, it added.
Bauxite availability issues also impacted VAL’s alumina production, which was down by nearly 56 per cent to 1.04 lakh tonnes during the quarter. The company said it was expecting to commence operations of the Vizag coal berth during the current quarter and has already obtained provisional commercial operations declaration.
The project, for which it had won 30-year contract in October 2010, is being implemented at a total project cost of $150 million through Vizag General Cargo Berth Pvt. Ltd. (VGCB).
Shriram Transport
Shriram Transport Finance Company (STFC) has reported a 11.3 per cent rise in its net interest income for the third quarter ended December 31, 2012 to Rs. 894.70 crore (standalone) as against Rs. 803.77 crore in the same period of the previous year. The profit after tax rose by 14.3 to Rs. 345.99 crore from Rs. 302.68 crore in the year-ago period. Total assets under management as on December 31, 2012, went up by 20.1 per cent to Rs. 49,270 crore from Rs. 40,765 crore as on December 31, 2011.
State Bank of Travancore
State Bank of Travancore (SBT) has posted a net profit of Rs.132 crore in the third quarter of the current financial year, a gain of 31 per cent as compared to the net profit of Rs.101 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
“SBT has shown improvement in its third quarter, primarily due to improvement in net interest margin (NIM),” said P. Nanda Kumaran, Managing Director, while talking to The Hindu .
“We have shown growth in operating profit, business level and also in market share,” Mr. Kumaran added.
The NIM moved up from Rs.1,325 crore to Rs.1,511 crore, a year-on-year growth of 14.04 per cent.
As at the end of the third quarter of the fiscal, net operating income rose from Rs.1,799 crore to Rs.1,975 crore, a growth of 9.75 per cent, on year-on-year basis.
Total business of the bank crossed Rs.1,45,000 crore and stood at Rs.1,45,603 crore as at the end of December 2012.
