One in five firms tops last year's profits

A fifth of companies listed on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) have clocked more profits in the first nine months of 2011-12 (FY12) than what they earned in the entire 2010-11 (FY11).  Strong growth in sales, cheaper materials and a near doubling of non-operational income helped at least 775 companies achieve this feat.

In the aggregate, these firms have reported a net profit of Rs 35,002 crore for the first nine months of FY12, compared with a net profit of Rs 19,383 crore during the entire FY11.

The outperformers come from across a broad spectrum including sectors such as cement, information technology, pharmaceuticals, fast moving consumer goods, gems and jewellery, hotels, auto ancillaries, agro chemicals, and non-banking financial companies.

The cement industry is among the top performers riding on a 15 per cent spike in prices. Fourteen cement companies reported an aggregate net profit at Rs 2,589 crore, over double of what they reported in the same period, previous fiscal. For nine months ending December 2010, they reported profits of Rs  1,234 crore.. The sample companies had a net profit of Rs 1,888 crore in the entire previous fiscal.

MONEY MAKERS
Rs  crore	Net Profit		In % *
	FY10-11	Dec ' 11#
Oil India	2884	3002	104.11
UltraTech Cem	1367	1579	115.47
Allahabad Bank	1440	1467	101.88
Dr Reddy's Labs	999	1084	108.47
SJVN	912	949	104.04
Petronet LNG	620	812	131.12
Tech Mahindra	644	793	123.09
Satyam Comp	-147	772	LTP

Tata Chemicals653699106.98 #For the nine months ended December 2011.    LTP = Loss to Profit
* 9 Month profit as % of FY10-11 Profit

 “Despite around 200 basis points y-o-y fall in operating rates due to huge capacity additions during the period, cement prices rose by 15 per cent on year-on-year basis. This was mainly due to production cuts by cement manufacturers in the South, the region which witnessed the maximum price increase,” said CRISIL Research in recent report.

Among other companies, Petronet LNG has posted net profit at Rs 812 crore for nine month ended December 2011, against Rs 620 crore in entire FY11, due to higher operational efficiency. India's biggest importer of liquefied natural gas, reported net sales of Rs 16,320 crore in the first nine months of FY12, against Rs 13,972 core in the entire FY11.

Gujarat Flurochemicals, Jaiprakash Power Ventures, Chettinad Cement and Navin Fluorine International have more than doubled their net profit in the first nine months on back of higher growth in sales. Kohinoor Foods, JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, Smartlink Network Systems, Wockhardt and Kanoria Chemicals too, have posted robust net profit growth, led by extra-ordinary income on sale of businesses to multi-national companies.