BEL net up 21% to Rs 82.3 cr

BS 200 SCORECARD

Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), the Bangalore-based public sector defence electronics firm, reported a net profit of Rs 82.30 crore for the three months to December 2004, up 20.77 per cent year on year.

That translated into earnings per share of Rs 10.29 (not annualised). Total income for the third quarter was Rs 690 crore, up 14 per cent year on year. Profits before taxes were up 41.34 per cent to Rs 135.83 crore.

BEL, which gets the bulk of its business from the government, has obtained exemption from the Securities Exchange Board of India on segment reporting. The quarterly results don't include results of a subsidiary, BEL Optronic Devices, and joint ventures such as GE BEL Private Ltd and BEL Multitone Ltd, a company release said.

For the nine months to December 2004, total income was Rs 2,165.21 crore, up 21.86 per cent year on year. Net profit was Rs 251 crore, up 30.1 per cent year on year.

"We aim to end this fiscal with total income of Rs 3,250 crore compared with Rs 2,890.58 crore for the year to March 2004," Y Gopala Rao, chairman and managing director, said.