Srei Net Profit Moves Up 32%

Srei International Finance Ltd (Srei) has registered a 31.6 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 15.63 crore on a total income of Rs 112.55 crore for 2001-02. The company has also declared a 12 per cent dividend for the year.

Operating profit rose 35 per cent to Rs 20.71 crore from Rs 15.34 crore in the previous year. Srei's net worth has increased from Rs 113.01 crore in the last fiscal to Rs 120.89 crore and its corresponding asset base went up 35.6 per cent to Rs 1,171 crore against Rs 863 crore in the previous year.

Hemant Kanoria, managing director, Srei, said: "Niche positioning of the company in providing all-round support to infrastructure asset creation in the country by constantly moving up the value chain has consistently improved the company's bottomline."

 

"This, coupled with effective customer reach and innovative lines of business sourcing, has helped the company pocket a majority share," he added.

While its income from G-Sec brokerage has declined thanks to the co-operative bank scams, the company funded two major road projects last year. One was the 65-km road in Karnataka and the other a 110 km highway in Chennai.

Srei International Securities Ltd, the securities trading arm of Srei which is an RBI-appointed satellite dealer (SD), managed a total income of Rs 5.71 crore while its profit before tax stood at Rs 1.41 crore. It is, at present, the only SD in the country with a licence valid till November 2003, and is working to obtain a primary dealer's licence. As one of the country's largest gilts trader with volumes close to Rs 40,000 crore last fiscal, the business would be nurtured by the government.

The company has also identified renewable energy as a potential source of business and has commenced financing such energy schemes in remote rural India. Though this would be the first retail business being developed by the company, its experience in the sector has been happy because it has chosen to work with the Ramakrishna Mission to place its assets.

Among new businesses, the company has started financing CNG compressors and dispensing equipment in the Delhi region. Public transport vehicles in that region have had to switch over from diesel to CNG under a judicial order.

With the oil retailing sector set to boom thanks to the entry of players such as Reliance Petro, Essar Oil and ONGC, the company has an open mind on financing equipment for fuel retailing.

However, it will not get into equipment finance for the telecommunications sector, another growth area, because rapidly evolving technology erodes asset values very fast.

Meanwhile, its insurance subsidiary, Srei Insurance Agency & Broking Ltd, agents for HDFC Standard Life Insurance in life and Bajaj Allainz General in non-life insurance generated a total income of Rs 14.75 lakh and a profit before tax of Rs 1.62 lakh.