Shipping major, Great Eastern Shipping Company Ltd (GE Shipping) has announced the results for the quarter & year ended March 31, 2008. The company has posted 24.28% increase in net profit at Rs 299.41 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 as compared to Rs 240.92 crore for the same quarter last fiscal. Total income has increased from Rs 592.67 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2007 to Rs 783.38 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2008.

The Group has posted 59.28% rise in net profit to Rs 1453.35 crore for the year ended March 31, 2008 as compared to Rs 912.43 crore for the year ended March 31, 2007. Total Income has increased from Rs 2417.73 crore for the year ended March 31, 2007 to Rs 3762.82 crore for the year ended March 31, 2008. The board of directors has declared third interim dividend of Rs 5 a share for the financial year 2007-08 and one time special jubilee interim dividend of Rs 2.50 a share. It had earlier declared and paid second interim dividends of Rs 4 a share and Rs 3.50 a share. Further the company said the board has not recommended any final Dividend for the Financial year 2007-08.

Shares of the company declined 1.2%, to trade at Rs 437.05. The total volume of shares traded was 322,370 at the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Nerolac Paints PAT up 11%

Kansai Nerolac Paints Limited has registered a net profit of Rs 23.96 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 against Rs 23.30 for the same period last year. It has registered a top line growth of 9.5% at Rs 377.88 crore, as compared to Rs 345.06 crore. The profit after tax for the year is Rs 119.79 crore against Rs 107.66 crore in previous year with a growth of 11.3%. On cumulative basis, for the full year ended March 31, 2008, the gross sale registered is of Rs 1613.33 crore, an increase of 8.7%, as compared to Rs 1483.86 crore.

Puravankara?s net up 86%

The Puravankara Projects has posted 86% rise in net profit at Rs 240.05 crore consolidated for the year ended March 31, 2008, as compared to Rs 129.10 crore recorded during the previous corresponding period.

The company has reported revenues at Rs 565.81 crores for the year represent, a 36% increase over the previous year. Net profit margins have moved up substantially to over 42% in the year ended 31 March 2008.

United Phos net at Rs 281 cr

Agrochemical company United Phosphorus on Friday announced a net profit of Rs 281.07 crore for the year ended March 31, where as the same was at Rs 282.08 crore a year ago. Consolidated total income stood at Rs 3761.70 crore for the year ended March 31, while it was at Rs 2,470.94 crore last year, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The board of directors has declared a dividend of Rs 2 on shares of Rs 2 each (100%).

In view of the transfer of the Haldia Division of SWAL Corp to the company with effect from April 1, 2007, the figures of the current year are not comparable with the corresponding figures of the previous year, the company added.

On standalone basis, the company reported a net profit of Rs 91.91 crore for the year ended March 31, and the same was at Rs 107.04 crore a year ago. Total income stood at Rs 1,644.68 crore financial year 2008, whereas the same was at Rs 1,455.19 crore in the previous year. Shares of the company closed at Rs 315.25, down 2.38% on BSE in afternoon trade.

Jamna Auto turnover

Manufacturer of commercial vehicle springs Jamna Auto Industries on Friday announced a consolidated gross turnover of Rs 185.57 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31. The company recorded a gross turnover of Rs 545.03 crore for the year ended March 2008. The High Court of Punjab and Haryana recently approved the amalgamation of Jai Parabolic Springs Ltd and MAP Springs with Jamna Auto with effect from July 1, 2007. Hence, the results of this year cannot be compared with last year’s figures, the company said in a statement here.

“With the amalgamation into effect and our expansion on the roll, for the next financial year we are all set to consolidate our presence in the domestic spring’s market as well as increase our exposure to the high-margin exports market,” Jamna Auto Industries CEO Randeep Jauhar said. “Our Jamshedpur plant is expected to start production by December 2008 and we expect to record a topline growth of 30-40 per cent in the next financial year,” he added. Jamna Auto is also in the process of setting up an R&D centre to expand and leverage its technological and IP strengths to enhance customer relationships and create a wider portfolio of products for its international and domestic markets, the statement added.

TII net down

Tube Investments of India Ltd (TII) has reported a decline in its net profit for the year ended March 31, 2008 to Rs 56.50 crore as compared to Rs 155.78 crore during the previous year. The total revenue grew 9% from Rs 1,615.04 crore to Rs1,762.33 crore.

The increase came through higher volumes in most of the products. The board, which met in Chennai on Friday, recommended a dividend of Re 1 per equity share of face value Rs.2 for the year, said a press release.

Four Soft?s revenue up

Four Soft Ltd, a software solutions provider of transportation and logistics management, on Friday said its consolidated revenue from operations has increased to Rs 173 crore during the financial year ended March 31, 2008 from Rs 163 crore in the previous fiscal.

The Operational PBT (profit before tax) was Rs 16.35 crore as compared to Rs 12.79 crore in the last financial year, a company release said here.

During the fourth quarter ended March 31, revenue stood at Rs 44 crore, while PBT was Rs 5.59 crore, Biju S Nair, senior vice-president, finance & HR, Four Soft, said.

“The encouraging result was due to the combined effect of increased revenue from license and maintenance, client acquisitions and optimised operations carried out of a successfully implemented integration plan of our acquisitions in the past,” he said in the release.

On future plans, Palem Srikanth Reddy, CEO, MD and chairman of the company said, “We plan to step up our focus on domestic market.”