HAL's Q3 net profit declines 17 pc to Rs 455 cr

State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd Monday reported a 17.02 per cent decline in net profit to Rs 455.19 crore in the third quarter ended December 2018.

It had reported a net profit of Rs 548.59 crore in the October-December quarter of the previous fiscal.

In a filing on the exchanges, HAL said a fraud involving misappropriation of funds by a company official in collusion with six contractors has been noticed by the management and referred to the vigilance department for further investigations.

"The vigilance department based on the investigations has lodged FIR with Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Bhubaneshwar. An amount of Rs 1,876 lakh has been provisionally assessed as fraudulent payments made to contractors during the period from December 2013 to September 2018, and reported in the FIR with CBI," the company said.

It said the matter is under investigation by CBI.

HAL's total income from operations stood at Rs 4,482.83 crore during the period, compared with Rs 4,462.92 crore in the corresponding year-ago period.

Its total expenses rose to Rs 3,799.33 crore in the December 2018 quarter, against Rs 3,618.14 crore a year ago.