Padmalaya Up With Q3 Show

The shares of Padmalaya Telefilms Ltd, the multimedia company, darted up today on the Bombay Stock Exchange to close at Rs 128.45, up 6.33 per cent over its previous close after reaching intra-day high of Rs 132 amid heavy volumes.

This follows the company reporting a good financial performance in October-December quarter. In the last 12 trading sessions, the stock has risen 32.5 per cent, from Rs 91.25 on 9 January to Rs 120.80 on January 25.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2001, the company posted a 73 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 6.61 crore compared with Rs 3.82 crore in the corresponding period last year. Net sales increased by 125.5 per cent to Rs 27.40 crore from Rs 12.15 crore in the corresponding quarter.

Last month, the board of directors of the company had decided to sell the animation division of the company to its 100 per cent US subsidiary, Padmalaya Telefilms Inc.

The board also approved a preferential allotment of 1.50 million equity shares to investors. The board will now authorise the managing director of the company to finalise the list of investors entitled to the shares and the terms and conditions for the issue.

On December 21, 2001, the company released its low-budget Hindi film, Amdani Athanni Kharcha Rupaiah.

According to analysts though the film has not made waves at the box-office, it has already brought in profits of Rs 4 crore through music rights, distribution rights, etc.

Besides the animation business, Padmalaya Telefilms is engaged in development of television entertainment software in Telugu and Tamil and multimedia and infotainment. It has a library of over 300 films and is also engaged in distribution of films.

The company has a strong presence in the south Indian media. So far, it has distributed about 500 films, both Indian and Hollywood.