After providing Rs 218.7 crore for taxation, HDFC Bank has reported a net profit of Rs 464.35 crore for the first quarter ended June 2008 as against Rs 321.23 crore during the corresponding period last year, portraying an increase of 44.6%. Total income of the bank rose 59.6% to Rs 4,215.2 crore as against Rs 2,641.7 crore for the same period last year. The total balance sheet size increased by 59.5% from Rs 1,05,695.3 crore as of June 2007 to Rs 168,598.7 crore, this year.

At the same time, the net interest income for the quarter increased 74.9% to Rs 1,723.5 crore, driven by average asset growth of 68% and a core net interest margin of just over 4.1% as against 4.3% last year. ?Despite a high interest rate scenario, we are hoping to maintain a healthy margin of 4.1-4.3% this year as well,? said Paresh Sukthankar, executive director, HDFC Bank.

The bank?s net revenues have risen 48.7% from Rs 1,558 crore last year, to Rs 2,316.9 crore this quarter. The bank said that fees and commission were the main contributors to other income, which increased 37.3% to Rs 511.2 crore. The other two major components of other income were foreign exchange and derivative revenues, which stood at Rs 157.4 crore as against Rs 146.5 crore last year. However, loss on sale of investments, particularly treasury, stood at Rs 77.6 crore, as against profit of Rs 52.6 crore for the quarter ended June 2007, Sukthankar said.With savings account deposits at Rs 31,853 crore and current account deposits at Rs 26,866 crore, the CASA mix for the merged entity was around 44.9% of the total deposits as of June 2008. ?We intend to improve our current account savings accounts (CASA) network by adding new branches. In fact, we have got a huge chunk from the Centurion Bank of Punjab (CBOP) merger, which has helped us improve our CASA base,? said Sukthankar. Total deposits increased 60.4% since June 2007, stood at Rs 130,918 crore and net advances increased 79.8% over June 2007, stood at Rs 96,797 crore. Total customer assets stood at Rs 99,554 crore as on June 30, 2008. ?Around 45% of our advances are from the wholesale division, while 55% from the retail segment. Large corporates, business banking, SME portfolio, auto loans and credit cards have contributed in a big way,? he said. The bank?s capital adequacy ratio stood at 12.2% as against the regulatory minimum of 9%. Provisions and contingencies for the quarter were Rs 344.5 crore as against Rs 307.1 crore last year, comprising primarily of specific provisions for non-performing assets (NPAs) and general provisions for standard assets of Rs 324.4 crore against Rs 299.7 crore for the quarter ended June 2007.

High crude oil prices see BPCL net loss at Rs 1,066.70 crore

On the back of high crude oil prices globally, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has posted a net loss of Rs 1,066.70 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2008 as compared to a net profit of Rs 193 crore for the corresponding quarter last fiscal. However, its sales stood at Rs 39,297.70 crore for the quarter, a growth of 61.5% from Rs 24,319.50 crore in the year ago period. Meanwhile, the shares of the company last traded at Rs 325.70, up 1.86% on the BSE on Monday. Attributing the losses of the company to record high fuel prices, Arvind Mahajan, executive director, KPMG Advisory Services, said, ?The major factor behind the losses is high crude oil prices. The quantum of the price hike is huge and after refining the crude, the company has not been able to pass on the price hike to the consumer.? He added that in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal, the crude was priced at anything between $60-$70 compared with the current situation when it was hovering above $100 a barrel in the past few months. Meanwhile, the press statement issued by BPCL stated that ?other expenditure? for the April-June quarter included Rs 427.80 crore towards losses on foreign exchange fluctuations. However, in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal, there were gains on foreign exchange fluctuation of Rs 247.50 crore which were accounted as ?other income?. The market sales during the quarter increased to 6.96 MMT from 6.33 MMT achieved during the corresponding period of the previous year. The increase is mainly in HSD retail (18.52%), MS retail (12.71%), aviation turbine fuel (ATF) (12.41%), LPG (7.13%) and Naphtha (5.51%) offset by reduction in furnace oil (-4.74%) and LSHS (-16.41%).

L&T PAT rises 33%

Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) has posted a 33% increase in profit after tax at Rs 502 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2008 over the previous corresponding period. The company has recorded a 53% rise in gross sales at Rs 6,993 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2008 over the previous corresponding period.

According to a media release, the company?s leadership position and superior capability have aided in garnering fresh orders across its manufacturing, engineering and construction sectors.

L&T?s growth trend witnessed in the last fiscal in order inflow, continued during the first quarter of 2008-09 with a rise of 24% over the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Besides, the company also reported significant foreign exchange gain during the first quarter of the previous year. Excluding the incidence of such exchange gain, the net profit for the quarter grew by a robust 70% year-on-year basis.

Hindalco Q1 net up 16%

Hindalco Industries Ltd on Monday announced that the company posted a growth of 16% in its net profit at Rs 696.80 crore for the first quarter ended June 2008 against Rs 598.6 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, its highest ever first quarter profits. The company?s sales during the period stood at Rs 4,647.50 crore, marginally down from Rs 4,685 crore in Q1FY08. Profit before depreciation, interest and tax grew by 16% to Rs 1,163.7 crore as compared to Rs 1,005.7 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The company also said its mark-to-market losses on outstanding derivative instruments as on June 30, 2008 stood at Rs 115.19 crore, arising from hedging transactions undertaken by it for its commodities and foreign currency related exposures.

Hindalco shares on Monday were down 2.21% or Rs 3.30 to close at Rs 146.15 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Aluminium business contributed Rs 1,943 crore to the total revenue. The profit before interest and tax for aluminium business was higher by 18 % to Rs 750.4 crore against last year, driven by higher volumes and higher LME prices. However, in the copper business, revenues were lower at Rs 2,706.6 crore against Rs 2,926.2 crore.