Edelweiss net falls 23% on macro-economic concerns

The consolidated net profit of Edelweiss Capital has fallen by 23%  in the quarter ended June 30, 2011. The income, however, has shown a marginal increase of around 2.50%.

According to stock exchange filings, the net profit for the quarter ended June 30, 2011 was pegged at Rs 33.21 crore, as against Rs 43.26 crore for the previous quarter. The income rose marginally to 395.83 crore, compared to Rs 386.26 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011.

The investment banking division has taken the biggest hit during the quarter with the segment reporting an income of a little over Rs 7 crore, compared to Rs 23.15 crore in the previous quarter. The profit from the segment was less than Rs 1 crore.

Speaking on the occasion, Rashesh Shah, chairman and CEO, Edelweiss Capital, said: "Macro-economic concerns continued to impinge on activity levels in credit and capital markets in the first quarter. However, we at Edelweiss have launched operations in our life insurance business and continue to incubate our new businesses of asset management and housing finance." We have thus achieved the desired product and business diversification which provides us stability, he added.

On the financial performance, he said that the group continues "to achieve topline growth both on y-o-y and q-o-q basis". "However, cost pressures persist. In addition, we have continued to invest in new businesses and upgrade the infrastructure. This has affected our bottom line. The investment phase is likely to go on for us during the current financial year as well," he explained.

On the outlook, Shah expects the challenging environment to persist in the next two or three quarters and is optimistic that growth will reappear soon.