GREAT NUMBERS

Mumbai, Jan. 9: The Axis Bank today declared better-than-expected numbers for the third quarter ended December 31, 2007. The bank’s net profit zoomed 66.20 per cent to Rs 306.83 crore from Rs 184.61 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

The bank reported strong growth across all segments during the quarter as reflected in the net interest margin (NIM) which was up 3 per cent at 3.91 per cent. Fee income surged 81 per cent to Rs 348.41 crore.

The net interest income for third quarter grew 91 per cent to Rs 747.34 crore compared with Rs 391.03 crore in the year-ago period. The rise in NIM and lower cost of funds together with growth in net advances of 50 per cent contributed to the rise in the net interest income.

Within the bank’s retail business, the number of savings bank accounts rose to 57.95 lakh from 43.59 lakh in the year-ago period.

Mastek profit

Software services firm Mastek has reported a 24.08 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 27.10 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 compared with Rs 21.84 crore for the same quarter a year ago.

The total income rose 17 per cent to Rs 215.9 crore compared with Rs 184.7 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The figure excludes contributions from the erstwhile Deloitte joint venture.

Revenues from the US increased 50 per cent to Rs 53.2 crore, while its UK operations contributed Rs 138.7 crore.

The board also declared an interim dividend of 70 per cent for the year, amounting to Rs 3.50 per share.

Chairman and managing director Sudhakar Ram said, “We will continue to implement our growth plans that include overseas acquisitions and expanding the order book. The second half of our financial year is expected to be better than the first half, both in terms of customer addition and order book expansion.”

iGATE net

Software solutions provider iGATE Global Solutions has posted an 80.88 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 28.85 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 against Rs 15.95 crore during the corresponding period a year ago.

The total income of the group also increased marginally to Rs 212.72 crore against Rs 210.59 crore for the same period previous year. “The visibility of revenue is getting better and we are looking at another good sequential quarter,” said iGATE Global Solutions CEO Phaneesh Murthy.