The net profit of Vysya Bank declined by 45.5 per cent to Rs 10.16 crore during April-June 1999 (Rs 18.64 crore). The main income of the bank increased marginally by 6 per cent during the quarter. Similarly, South Indian Bank's net profit also declined by 44.8 per cent to Rs 2.11 crore (Rs 3.82 crore) during April-June 1999. The main income of South Indian Bank increased by 11.6 per cent to Rs 109.74 crore. The poor performance of banks and together with some major companies poor performances are somewhatresponsible for the downturn in net profit of 350 companies during the quarter April-June 1999.

The aggregate sales of the 350 companies rose by 15.9 per cent to Rs 62,536 crore (Rs 53,945 crore) during April-June 1999. Operating profit rose by 18.1 per cent from Rs 11,904 crore to Rs 14,055 crore in April-June 1999. Gross profit also rose by 3.9 per cent to Rs 7,526 crore (Rs 7,245 crore). This was probably due to significant increases in gross profit by AP Paper, B Arunkumar's International, Balmer Lawrie-Van Leer, Bhagheeratha Engineering, Cheminor Drugs, DCM, Henkel Spic India, Kovilpatti Lakshmi Roller, Lakshmi Mills, Shasun Chemicals & Drugs and Tata Honeywell.

But the profit before tax of these companies declined by 4.1 per cent to Rs 4,759 crore (Rs 4,963 crore). In PBT, 32 companies have recorded an increase of 100 per cent or more. Mention may be made of AP Paper, Asian Electronics, Bhagheeratha Engineering, Cheminor Drugs, DSP Merrill Lynch, Metrochem, Nijjer Agro Foods, Shasun Chemicals &Drugs, Stovec Industries and Tata Honeywell.

At the PAT level, 31 companies have reported an increase of more than 100 per cent or more, with Tata Honeywell recording an increase of more than 705 per cent. As many as 82 companies recorded lower net profits. Significant loss made by the companies during April-June 1999 are Arvind Mills (-Rs 48.16 crore), Baroda Rayon (-Rs 20.34 crore), Century Textiles (-Rs 13.97 crore), DGP Windsor India (-Rs 14.84 crore), Hindustan Motors (-Rs 23.10 crore), Hindusthan Development Corp (-Rs 10.63 crore), HMT (-Rs 68.87 crore), Mangalore Refinery (-Rs 122.27 crore), Mardia Chemicals (-Rs 70.16 crore), Raymond (-Rs 21.39 crore) and Woolworth (India) (-Rs 12.28 crore). The PAT to sales ratio declined from 6.96 per cent in April-June 1998 to 5.64 per cent in April-June 1999. Significant downward trend in the ratio can be seen in the case of Dhunseri Tea (26.67 per cent in April-June 1998 to 9.99 per cent in April-June 1999), Fem Care Pharma (10.18 per cent to 2.94 per cent),Fortune Investors (108.76 per cent to 19.90 per cent), National Plastic (15.62 per cent to 5.89 per cent), Priyadarshini Cement (12.11 per cent to 3.64 per cent), Tourism Finance Corp (24.97 per cent to 7.85 per cent) and Warren Tea (16.16 per cent to 7.09 per cent).

A significant increase in the ratio during April-June 1999 from the level of April-June 1998 was recorded by Cheminor Drugs (3 per cent in April-June 1998 to 12 per cent in April-June 1999), Deep Diamond India (0.97 per cent to 13.72 per cent), DSP Merrill Lynch (10.89 per cent to 25.82 per cent), Eternit Everest (6.64 per cent to 23.78 per cent), Himachal Futuristic (3.87 per cent to 10.77 per cent), Modern Mills (28.11 per cent to 45.44 per cent), Murudeshwar Ceramics (8.82 per cent to 23.02 per cent) and Patel Engineering (7.12 per cent to 16.48 per cent).

Among the 350 companies, the top five in respect of net profit as a percentage of sales during April-June 1999 were Modern Mills (45.44 per cent), Bank of Madura (38.64 per cent), KesarEnterprises (35.82 per cent), Gujarat Mineral Dev (35.12 per cent) and Hindalco (28.83 per cent). Profit after tax (PAT) formed less than 1 per cent of sales during April-June 1999 in the case of 37 companies. Notable among them are Forbes Gokak (0.12 per cent), Ginni International (0.14 per cent), Mahaan Foods (0.14 per cent), Nahar Industrial Enterprises (0.19 per cent), Prime Solvent Extractions (0.03 per cent), Shree Ram Mills (0.16 per cent), Super Forgings (0.13 per cent), Swill (0.05 per cent) and Tata SSL (0.05 per cent).

Aggregates

This week's additions of 350 companies with previous 555 companies results also showed an increase in sales. The total of 905 companies sales increased by 13.3 per cent to Rs 1,28,598 crore (Rs 1,13,514 crore). Other income of these companies increased by 6.3 per cent to Rs 3,818 crore. Operating profit of 905 companies have registered a rise of 16.1 per cent to Rs 32,066 crore (Rs 27,624 crore). Gross profit also increased by 8.3 per cent to Rs 16,735 croreduring April-June 1999. Profit before tax and PAT showed a growth of 5.4 per cent to Rs 11,098 crore and 4.2 per cent to Rs 8,212 crore respectively during April-June 1999. The PAT to sales ratio of 905 companies declined marginally from 6.94 per cent in April-June 1998 to 6.39 per cent in April-June 1999.