Godrej Foods has posted a net profit of Rs 90.15 lakh in the second quarter ended September 30, 1999, a substantial jump over Rs 4.96 lakh in the corresponding period last year. Net sales, however, suffered a drop of 30.84 per cent to Rs 109.29 crore during the period as compared to Rs 158.04 crore last year. This is despite the fact that income from operations during the quarter period includes profit on sale of shares in Godrej Pillsbury amounting to Rs 20.73 crore. Operating profit has increased to Rs 7.67 crore (Rs 4.65 crore). Operating profit margins have improved from 2.94 per cent (7.02 per cent).

Essar Shipping Q2 net slides

Essar Shipping Ltd recorded a drastic decline in its second quarter profitability this year by nearly 71 per cent at Rs 4.26 crore (Rs 14.64 crore). For the first half ended September 30, 1999, ESL's profits declined by 69.7 per cent to Rs 10.64 crore from Rs 35.12 crore in last year's first half. Turnover was Rs 100.01 crore compared to Rs 115.23 crore last year.

Hind Diamond pays Rs 28 lakh

Hindustan Diamond Company Ltd (HDCL), largest supplier of rough diamonds to manufacturers and exporters of polished diamonds, has reported a turnover of Rs 595 crore in 1998-99, a growth of 6 per cent over the preceding year, an official statement said. HDCL chairman and managing director Virendra Singh on Thursday presented a dividend cheque of Rs 28 lakh ie, 20 per cent to Union minister of commerce and industry Murasoli Maran.

Tata Finance Q2 net up to Rs 9.8 cr

Tata Finance has posted higher net profit at Rs 9.79 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, 1999 as against Rs 9.25 crore during the corresponding period last year. Total income during the quarter was Rs 1,33.96 crore from Rs 119.38 crore. Tata Chem posts lower H1 netTata Chemicals has reported a lower net profit of Rs 62.38 crore during the half year ended September 30, 1999, against Rs 100.41 crore in the same period last year. The sales was also lower at Rs 671.64 crore (Rs 748.35 crore). Total income was at Rs 684.18 crore (Rs 764.40 crore).

Kalnirnay's specialised editions

Sumangal Publishers launched five specialised Marathi editions of their yearly almanac `Kalnirnay' at a press conference in Mumbai on Thursday. The new editions carry information specific to six regions in Maharashtra, namely Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Kolhapur, Vidarbha and Marathwada. Kalnirnay is the largest selling publication in India and is brought out in Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu apart from Hindi and English.

Pantaloon board okays equity issue

Pantaloon Fashions (India) Ltd has informed the BSE that the board has approved the issue of upto 32,35,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each at a premium of Rs 33 per share aggregating upto Rs 1399.65 lakh on a private placement basis to individuals, domestic OCBs, Indian MFs, FIID, NRIs and FIs.

Besant Raj programme

A one-day programme on the WTO and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) requirements (Implications to the Indian industry) was organised in Mumbai by Besant Raj International in association with Ennen & Associates. Chairman and managing director of Besant Raj, Dr A Besant C Raj and Dr VK Mehta spoke on a range of issues including WTO requirements affecting industries and agriculture and other emerging issues.

Adpetek unveils esign

In a bid to cash in on the boom in e-commerce and Net banking market, Adpetek Software Solutions Pvt Ltd has developed the country's first electronic signature authentication product, esign. Esign uses a low-cost digitiser to capture the physical signature and append it to any electronic document be it a word-processor page, a spread sheet, an e-commerce application or just a simple e-mail.

ITW Signode H1 net slips

ITW Signode India Ltd has reported a marginal rise in turnover at Rs 45.63 crore (Rs 44 crore) for the second quarter ended September 30, 1999. For the first six months of this fiscal, it has posted a turnover of Rs 85.62 crore (Rs 88 crore). The net profit has dipped to Rs 6.4 crore (Rs 7.95 crore).