Kerala to host IT meet: The Kerala chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the state government will organise a two-day conference on February 6 and 7 in Thiruvananthapuram. The meet aims at projecting Kerala as a base for information technology industry and a centre for investments. The conference is expected to bring together experts in the field of information technology. These experts from various fields can contribute towards providing information technologies, productsand services which are relevant to the implementation of the recently-announced IT policy of the state, sorces said.

New unit at software park: Re-Infom, a fully export-oriented unit and the fourth one to begin operations at the Ernakulam Software Technology Park (ESTP), was inaugurated in Kochi by state electricity minister S Sarma on Sunday. Re-Infom is a well-known name with having developed the cooperative management information system and Manglish, a software for Malayalam pre-press operations. ESTP is the country's first software venture coming up under the supervision of local level agencies as part of the thrust on decentralisation of power.

The software technology park at Ernakulam is being promoted jointly by the Cochin Corporation and Software Technology Parks, India.

Bharat Forge net at Rs 10 crore: Bharat Forge Limited has registered Rs 1,19.8 crore in sales and income from operations for quarter ended December 31, 1998 compared with last year's Rs 1,41.9 crore for the sameperiod. Net profit is up from Rs 8.1 crore to Rs 10.2 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 1998.

Last year Bharat Forge had a sales and income from operations of Rs 597 crore and a net profit of Rs 36.20 crore.

Atul profit up 47 per cent: Atul Ltd has registered a 47 per cent increase in profit before depreciation at tax (PBDT) (excluding non-recurring profits) for the third quarter ended December 31, 1998 at Rs 2.78 crore as against Rs 1.89 crore in the previous year. Atul managing director Sunil S Lalbhai said performance during the third quarter, though better than that of the corresponding period of the previous year, was unsatisfactory mainly due to lower sales coupled with lower margins and malfunction of the turbine. He, however, said that the fourth quarter will see a significant improvement in performance as the newly installed turbine had reached a stable level of operations and the modified agrochemicals plant had commenced commercial production during the month.

UB Engineeringturnover up: UB Engineering, the Pune-based company, has posted a 42 per cent jumped in turnover to Rs 78.01 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 1998, while profit after tax increased 290 per cent to Rs 1.66 crore for the same period.

Deepak Nitrite net at Rs 3 crore: Deepak Nitrite has registered lower net sales for the third quarter despite a 30 per cent jump in exports during the period. While net sales declined to Rs 37.9 crore for the quarter from Rs 40.81 crore, other income more than doubled to Rs 22 lakh. Net profit increased to Rs 3.27 crore from Rs 2.05 crore as a result of a stringent cost-reduction exercise.

Albright & Wilson Chem net at Rs 2 crore: Albright & Wilson Chemicals India Ltd has posted a net profit of Rs 2.28 crore in the quarter ended December 1998, as against Rs 1.78 crore in the corresponding period last year. Net sales during the period dropped marginally to Rs 20.19 crore from Rs 20.75 crore last year. Total expenditure was nearly stagnant at Rs17.18 crore as compared to Rs 17.62 crore in the previous year. Interest costs dropped to Rs 13 lakh from Rs 37 lakh. In the nine month period ended December 1998, the company posted a net profit of Rs 5.72 crore on net sales of Rs 58.37 crore against a net profit of Rs 4.98 crore on sales of Rs 60.06 crore in the corresponding period last year.

H Duggal BT vice president (India): BT India has appointed Harpreet Duggal as vice president, sales and marketing for India and the Saarc region. Prior to this appointment, he was vice president, customer relations of GE. He ws also a consultant to the Telstra joint venture with VSNL. BT has presence in India through a number of joint ventures and strategic alliances.

Lakme board: The board of directors of Lakme Ltd will meet on January 29, to consider the audited financial results (provisional) for the quarter ended December 31, 1998.

Adani Exports board: The board of directors of Adani Exports Ltd will meet in Ahmedabad on January 30 tortaking on record the unaudited results for the quarter ended December 31.