This was probably due to the sigrificant declines in PAT of companies like Mather & Platt, KJMC Financial Services, Malwa Cotton, Dorr-Oliver and Asian Food Products. The net profit figure of Mather & Platt decreased by 85.4 per cent to Rs 0.42 crore during 1998-99, from Rs 2.88 crore during 1997-98. Its sales have also declined by 16.2 per cent during the year.

On the other hand, the operating profit of these 78 companies rose by 1.2 per cent to Rs 1,216 crore during 1998-99. Their gross profit declined by -23.8 per cent to Rs 424 crore in 1998-99, from Rs 552 crore in 1997-98.

Profit before tax also decreased by -55.9 per cent to Rs 118 crore in 1998-99. This has happened probably due to the significant declines in the PBT of companies like Sabero Organics (-84.9 per cent), Mather & Platt (-70.0), KJM Financial Services (-81.8 per cent), KayceeIndustries (-80.0 per cnet), Asian Food Products (-96.2 per cent), and Malwa Cotton (81.7 per cent). Though the aggregate sales of the 78 companies rose by 15 per cnet to Rs 7,550 crore during 1998-99, from Rs 6,564 crore during 1997-98, the PAT to sales ratio of these companies declined remarkably from 2.85 per cent to 0.86 per cent during 1998-99.

Of the 78 companies, 29 firms' gross profit declined. Prominent among them are Everlon Synthetics (-99.2 per cent), Supreme Holding (-81.8 per cent), Recom Ltd (72.1 per cent), and Kaycee Industries (-63.3 per cent). There are six companies, namely A.T.E Trading & Manufacturing, TOKYO Finance, Vidhi Dyestuffs, Kilpest India, Zicom Electronic Security Systems, and Rider Electronics, whose gross profit more than doubled.

In PBT, eight companies, namely A.T.E Trading & Manufacturing, Tokyo Finance, Kilpest India, Shasun Chemicals, Zicom Electronic, Yash Papers, Unichem Lab, and Rider Electronics, witnessed an increase of 100 per cent or more. Of these, RiderElectronics showed the highest growth of 763.6 per cent during the year 1998-99.

However, 25 companies have recorded a lower PBT during 1998-99. In the case of PAT, significant losses made by companies during 1998-99 are Janshri Ranjitsinghji Spg & Wvg (-Rs 14.85 crore), India Securities (-Rs 27.33 crore), Modern Terry Towels (-Rs 35.24 crore), Triveni Glass (-Rs 13.57 crore), Modern Threads (-Rs 35.88 crore), and Vitara Chemicals (Rs 51.55 crore). As many as 23 companies recorded lower net profits. Notable among them are Mather & Platt (-85.4 per cent), KJMC Financial Services (-81.2 per cent), Orient Ceramics (-64.5 per cent), Kaycee Industries (-77.8 per cent). Asian Food Products (-96.2 per cent), and Sonal Adhesives (-76.3 per cent).

On the other hand, eight companies have witnessed an increase of 100 per cent or more. Mention may be made of ATE Trading & Manufacturing, TOKYO Finance, Kilpest India, Shasun Chemicals, Zicom Electronic, Yash Papers, Unichem Lab, and Rider Electronics.

Among the 78companies, the top five in respect of PAT to sales ratio during 1998-99 were Inox Leasing of Fin (85.09 per cent), Walchand Capital (53.13 per cent), TOKYO Finance (51.69 per cent), Emerald Co (40.67 per cent), and Swastik Safe (30.75 per cent). PAT formed less than 1 per cent of sales during 1998-99 in the case of Modern Insulators, Kay Pulp & Paper, Mather & Platt, Vivid Chemicals, Filtron Engineers, Kaycee Industries, Asian Food Products, Malwa Cotton, Mudra Financial, and Escorts Finance.

A significant increase in the ratio during 1998-99 from the level of 1997-98 was recorded by TOKYO Finance (22.41 per cent in 1997-98 to 51.69 per cent in 1998-99), Zicom Electronics (0.65 per cent to 3.37 per cent), Shasun Chemicals (1.62 per cent to 4.53 per cent), and Unichem Lab (2.52 per cent to 5.46 per cent). A reverse trend can be seen in the case of Sabero Organics (8.47 per cent in 1997-98 to 1.15 per cent in 1998-99), Mather & Platt (3.82 per cent to 0.66 per cent), KJMC Financial (25.70 per cent to 7.37 percent), KIL Kotagiri Tea (22.17 per cent to 13.21 per cent), Swastik Safe ((50.40 per cent to 30.75 per cent), Kalasa Tea (19.24 per cent to 11.06 per cent), and Malwa Cotton (4.27 per cent to 0.82 per cent).

Aggregates

This week's addition of 78 companies to the previous week's 779 companies results also showed an increase in sales. The total of 857 companies' sales rose by 13.73 per cent to Rs 413,236 crore during 1998-99, from Rs 363,352 crore during 1997-98. These companies have registered a rise of 11.49 per cent to Rs 95,704 crore in operating profit during 1998-99, from Rs 85,843 crore during 1997-98.

The gross profit of these companies also increased by 4.99 per cent to Rs 54,169 crore during 1998-99. The growth of PBT and PAT was 2.65 per cent (Rs 36,594 crore in 1998-99) and 0.93 per cent (Rs 28,267 crore in 1998-99) respectively during 1998-99. The ratio of PAT to sales declined from 7.71 per cent in 1997-98 to 6.84 per cent in 1998-99.

Quarterly performance

In the case ofquarterly results, only 10 companies' fourth-quarter results were available during this week. Among the results collected, significant growth in sales was noticed in the case of Shri M.M. Softek (314.3 per cent) during the January-March '99, compared with the January-March '98 quarter. A reverse trend can be seen in the case of Modern Denim (-73.3 per cent).

On the profit performance, significant growth in PAT was noticed in the case of Shri MM Softek (353.8 per cent) and Haria Exports (122.7 per cent). The net profit of Shri MM Softek was Rs 59 lakh (Rs 13 lakh) for the quarter ended March 99. Significant loss (- Rs 13.89 crore) was reported during the quarter ended March 99 in the case of Modern Denim. More than 20 per cent ratio (PAT to sales) was observed during the fourth quarter in the case of Shri MM Softek (29.06 per cent).