Pantaloon net profit up 71%

The Kishore Biyani-promoted firm opened 20 new stores during the quarter under review, thus increasing the operating retail space to 7.3 mn sq ft from 6.70 mn sq ft. However Pantaloon's net profit for nine months ended March 2008 dropped by 7.79 per cent to Rs 93.44 crore as against Rs 101.3 crore an year ago. It registered a total income of Rs 3,671 crore for the nine months ended March 2008 compared to Rs 2,291 crore for the same period last year.