Stock Watch

India's biggest power equipment maker, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd has reported a 35 percent in its net profit to Rs 1,072.5 crore in the third quarter of the current financial year over the same period last year.

Total income of the firm rose to Rs 7,422.5 crore for the December quarter, against Rs 6,328.5 crore in the same period previous fiscal. BHEL reported the numbers in a filing to BSE today.

Biotechnology firm Biocon said that its consolidated net profit almost tripled at Rs 80.8 crore in the third quarter of the current financial year, over the same period previous fiscal.

Total income of the firm rose to Rs 641.5 crore for the quarter ending December, against Rs 452.4 crore in the corresponding period last year, the firm said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

UTI Asset Management Company Ltd, the country's fourth-largest fund house has announced that 26 per cent stake in the company has been acquired by the T Rowe Price Global Investment Services Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of T Rowe Price Group Inc.

The deal was concluded in October 2009 and been cleared by the government and SEBI.

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) has recorded a growth of 23 per cent in net profit to Rs 671.25 crore in the third quarter of the current financial year from Rs 546.83 crore in the same period last year.

India's largest mortgage finance company also recorded a strong growth in its loan disbursements. Various banks in the housing loan segment have seen a rise in business due to attractive offers.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes has circulated a notification that said that a 20 per cent levy will be imposed by the tax deducting entity if PAN is not quoted in transactions that involve a tax deduction at source. The new law is to take effect from the next fiscal year.

A PAN (permanent account number) is issued to all entities with taxable income and is used as an identification number.

Revising its projections for worldwide IT spending for 2010, Global research firm Gartner Inc. foresees modest growth in the IT segment during the year. Lifting its projections, the firm said that industry as a whole would rise to $3.4 trillion reporting an increase of 4.6 percent as compared to the earlier predictions of 3.3 percent.

The Meridian Group owned Fly Mobile, one of the major players in dual SIM phones in Europe, has come up with a QWERTY keypad dual-SIM phone dubbed as Fly Circle in the Indian market. The handset loaded with all routine features is capable to connect to multiple instant messaging and social networking media.

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the largest oil and gas producer of India has a reason to cheer as the firm reported 23.4% rise in its net profit to Rs 3,053.58 crore during the third quarter ended December 31, 2009.

The firm with a market worth of $56 billion had reported a net profit of Rs 2,474.81 crore in the same quarter last year. Earlier, the firm was projected to post a net profit of 47.6 billion rupees in a Reuters' poll.

Shares of country's largest engineering and construction conglomerate, Larsen & Toubro declined significantly on the bourses as the firm reported 50% drop in net profit. The stock plunged by 6.9 per cent to close at Rs 1,524.35 on BSE, reporting a largest ever single-day fall in last six months.

The second largest Indian Bank, ICICI Bank has announced the financial results for the third quarter reporting 13.4 per cent decline in its net profit led by increased trading loss. However, the decline in net profit is below expectations, due to rise in retail loans.