Vijaya Bank CMD Prakash P. Mallya in Bangalore on Wednesday. (PTI)

Oct. 24: Vijaya Bank has reported a 23.80 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 216.60 crore for the second quarter ended September 30.

However, the company’s operating profits dropped to Rs 315.82 crore against Rs 339.98 crore in the year-ago period.

Prakash P. Mallya, chairman and managing director of the bank, attributed the fall to the low net interest margin of 2.61 per cent. The bank expects to improve the margin by the end of the financial year, Mallya said.

Another reason for the decline in operating profits was that the bank went in for short-term credit at low margins instead of long-term loans, he said.

“As expected this year, we will close with a profit of Rs 425 crore to Rs 450 crore by March 2008,” Mallya said.

The bank has 998 branches now and plans to open another 1,050 by March.

The total business increased 33.73 per cent to Rs 68,980 crore from Rs 51,581 crore and deposits grew 31.98 per cent to Rs 42,169 crore from Rs 31,952 crore.

On new business plans for 2007-08, he said the corporate goal was to improve profitability in core businesses.

Hind Motors

Hindustan Motors has posted a net profit of Rs 28 lakh for the quarter ended September 30 against a loss of Rs 5.38 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

The company’s net sales rose 16.36 per cent to Rs 189.05 crore compared with Rs 162.46 crore in the year-ago period.

“The company has been reporting profits from the last two quarters. While positive numbers in the first quarter were on the back of the sale of the Uttarpara land, our growing sales have helped us post profit in the last quarter,” a company spokesperson said.

Dr Reddy’s

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has reported a 37 per cent drop in revenue at Rs 1,267 crore for the second quarter ended September 30.

The profit after tax was Rs 267 crore. The bottomline of the company was affected by the performance of the German company Betapharm, which Dr Reddy’s bought last year.

Dr Reddy’s CEO G.V. Prasad said the company planned to set up special economic zones in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam, spread over 250 acres each. Investments in the two zones will be $25 million each.