Jan. 28 :    Jan. 28:  Indian Rayon & Industries Ltd has posted a sharp drop of 72.86 per cent in net profit for third quarter ending December at Rs 3.63 crore compared with Rs 13.09 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. Turnover was also marginally lower at Rs 372.7 crore as against Rs 380.3 crore last year, the company said in a statement. Performance for the third quarter was affected by an illegal strike at Rayon plant at Veraval and voluntary retirement scheme at textile plant in Rishra, it said. The board also decided to further defer the buyback plan. For the nine months-ended the net profit was down by 11 per cent at Rs 28.7 crore (Rs 32 crore) while turnover was slightly higher at Rs 1,078 crore (Rs 1,063.1 crore), it said. Kesoram net plummets The B K Birla Group flagship Kesoram Industries Ltd today announced that its net profit during the third quarter-ended December had come down to Rs 0.24 crore from Rs 3.01 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal. Net sales were down by Rs 6.26 crore to Rs 332.80 crore from Rs 339.06 crore while other income slipped to Rs 3.15 crore from Rs 5.62 crore in the same quarter of last fiscal, officials said after a board meeting here. SSI net dips Hit by the global slowdown in software business, especially in the US, SSI Ltd's revenue nose-dived to Rs 66.08 crore in the quarter-ended December from Rs 115.43 crore in the corresponding previous quarter. According to the unaudited figures released by the company, profit for the period dipped to Rs 1.74 crore from Rs 25.08 crore in the corresponding previous quarter. Indo Gulf net up The Aditya Birla Group's Indo Gulf Corporation Ltd has posted a 36.25 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 88.17 crore for the third quarter ended-December compared with Rs 64.71 crore for the same period last fiscal. Net sales for the period under review grew by 11.47 per cent at Rs 765.11 crore as against Rs 686.38 crore last fiscal, the company said in a release here today. TVS Motor sales up TVS Motor Co have announced a 10 per cent increase in turnover at Rs 522.76 crore compared with Rs 476.34 crore in the third quarter of last fiscal. Two-wheeler sales during the period rose to 2,34,055 units, an increase of 7 per cent over last year's sale of 2,19,089 units. The increase in sales have been a direct result of motorcycle sales which grew by 36 per cent over the corresponding previous period.